Musharraf calls Britain for help on Bhutto

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf called for help from British police in probing the murder of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto as he sought to dampen public anger on Thursday a week after her death.   

In his first major speech to the nation since her assassination, he said a Scotland Yard team would "immediately" come to help resolve doubts surrounding the circumstances of how she died.   

It could help appease mounting public anger over the official explanation that the two-time former premier died by smashing her head on her car sunroof in the gun and suicide attack at a campaign rally.   

Musharraf defended the postponement of general elections until February 18, citing widespread and deadly violence triggered by Bhutto's assassination.   

"This is a very significant investigation. All the confusion that has been created in the nation must be resolved," a stern-faced Musharraf said.   

"I am sure this investigation with Scotland Yard will be correct and will remove all the doubts surrounding it."   

Pakistan's interior ministry has blamed the attack on an alleged Al-Qaeda militant, but also insisted she had not been hit by any bullets or shrapnel.   

Bhutto aides who were there said she was shot in the head, while videos and photographs have also cast serious doubt on the official version.   

A senior government official, who could not be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, said there might not be much the Scotland Yard team can do.   

"They will come here and ask for two things," he said.   

"Do you have a post-mortem report? Do you know the cause of death? They will ask for a detailed post-mortem report -- and we don't have any.   

"I seriously do not think there is anything for them to investigate."   

Musharraf said Bhutto had been killed by the same "terrorists" behind an unprecedented wave of violence here in the past year that has killed more than 800 people.   

Scotland Yard said a team from its counter-terrorism command would "provide support and assistance" in the investigation, which it added would be led by Pakistani authorities.   

Pakistan's government has consistently rejected calls for a UN probe into the killing, and Musharraf's main backer, the United States, was quick to say the world body had no need to get involved.   

"Scotland Yard being in the lead of this investigation is appropriate and necessary, and we don't see a need for an investigation beyond that at this time," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.   

British Foreign Minister David Miliband said the team would set off "by the end of the week."   

Musharraf, a pivotal US ally in the "war on terror", appealed for national unity, which he said was essential in fighting terrorism.   

"We must unite and struggle against it with more vigour and energy. If we do not succeed, then, God forbid, Pakistan's future is black," he said.   

Bhutto's party and others condemned the vote's postponement from January 8 after a wave of unrest left 58 dead, but grudgingly said they would still take part.   

The parliamentary vote is seen as a crucial next step in the transition to civilian-led democratic rule under Musharraf, who stepped down from his other post as army chief just weeks ago.   

Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the country's largest, alleged the delay is an attempt to give Musharraf's allies time to rig the vote.   

"We condemn the delay but we are taking part," said her widowed husband and the party's de facto new leader, Asif Ali Zardari.   

Every recent election in Pakistan, the world's only nuclear-armed Islamic nation, has been marred by allegations of fraud.   

"It should be quite obvious that the elections have been postponed because allies of Musharraf are politically finished," Rasul Baksh Rais, a political scientist at the Lahore School of Management Sciences, told.   

He said they wanted more time to revive the party in the face of a wave of sympathy for the PPP.