In a damning report, a UN investigation into Benazir Bhutto's killing today concluded that the then military ruler Pervez Musharraf's government 'failed' to protect the ex-premier despite being aware of the serious threats to her life.
The UN-appointed independent panel report also slammed the powerful ISI and the Pakistani police, saying they "deliberately failed" to properly probe 54-year-old Bhutto's murder which could have been averted.
"Bhutto's assassination could have been prevented," said the much-awaited 65-page report by a three-member panel headed by Chile's UN ambassador Heraldo Munoz.
The investigators stressed that besides passing on messages of the serious threats to Bhutto, no proactive measures were taken by the authorities to neutralise the danger. However, the report does not reveal who killed Bhutto.
"The responsibility for Bhutto's security on the day of the assassination rested with the federal government, the government of Punjab and the Rawalpindi district police... none of these entities took the necessary measures to respond to the extraordinary fresh and urgent security risk that they knew she faced," Munoz told reporters.
"A range of government officials failed profoundly in their efforts first to protect Bhutto and second to investigate with vigour all those responsible for her murder not only in the execution of the attack but also in its conception, planning and financing," he said.
The panel pointed out that Bhutto faced a threat from several sources, including Al-Qaeda, Pakistani Taliban, other Jihadist groups and "so called establishment in Pakistan" that consisted of elements of military commanders, intelligence agency, allied political parties and business partners.
Bhutto, the first woman to become prime minister of a Muslim country, was killed on December 27, 2007 in a gun and suicide attack after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near the capital Islamabad.
The Munoz-led panel, which commenced its probe on July 1, 2009, was to have submitted its report on December 31, 2009 but its term was extended for another three months. It was tasked with establishing the facts and circumstances of the slaying and was not empowered to identify culprits.
However, the report, initially scheduled for March 30, was delayed after Pakistan made a request to the panel urging it to include input from former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Saudi Arabia.
The report severely rebuked Pakistan's spy agency ISI for interfering in criminal investigations after her assassination, which subordinated law and order.
"We contacted her and she said that she was not available," Monoz said, stressing that her absence did not in anyway hamper the investigation.
Munoz earlier yesterday submitted the commission's findings to UN chief Ban Ki-moon. Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari, after becoming the president had asked the UN to carry out an independent investigation.
Pakistan's UN Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon, who was to have addressed the press after receiving a copy of the report, cancelled it.
In its conclusion, the panel - also including Indonesian ex-attorney general Marzuki Darusman and Peter Fitzgerald, an Irish former police official -- enjoined Pakistani authorities to ensure that "the further investigation into the assassination of Bhutto is fully empowered and resourced and is conducted expeditiously and comprehensively, at all levels, without hindrance."
