UN chief Ban Ki-moon slammed the killing of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto as a "heinous crime" shortly before the Security Council was to meet in emergency session.
UNITED NATIONS: UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday slammed the killing of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto as a "heinous crime" shortly before the Security Council was to meet in emergency session.
"I strongly condemn this heinous crime and call for the perpetrators to be brought to justice as soon as possible," the secretary general said in a statement.
The Security Council was set to meet in emergency session at noon (1700 GMT) to assess the situation after the suicide attack outside a campaign rally at which 20 people were killed in the northern city of Rawalpindi.
A UN statement said the 15-member council planned to adopt a non-binding statement on the killing following closed-door consultations.
Saying he was "shocked and outraged" by Bhutto's killing, Ban added that "this represents an assault on stability in Pakistan and its democratic processes."
"While strongly urging for calm and restraint to be maintained at this difficult time, I call on all Pakistanis to work together for peace and national unity," he added.
Bhutto had just addressed a campaign rally for the parliamentary vote when an attacker shot her in the neck before blowing himself up at a park in Rawalpindi, killing 20 people, police said.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, but Bhutto had accused elements in the intelligence services of trying to kill her. She also said she had received death threats from Islamic militant groups including Al-Qaeda.
Police officials said Bhutto succumbed to her wounds in hospital, but it was not immediately known if it was the gunshot that killed her.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}