Islamabad: Pakistan on Wednesday rejected calls for a United Nations inquiry into Benazir Bhutto's assassination along the lines of the world body's probe of the killing of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, saying the circumstances in the two countries are "totally different".
Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said the probe by a UN Investigating Commission into Hariri's assassination was in line with various resolutions passed by the world body on Lebanon.
Ruling out a similar probe into Bhutto's assassination in Rawalpindi on December 27, Sadiq said the situation in Pakistan is "totally different" from the circumstances that led to the investigation into Hariri's killing.
Sadiq also pointed out that the UN Commission had present nine reports "without bringing the matter to closure".
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party demanded a probe by the UN into her killing following conflicting accounts about the attack on her. The PPP has dismissed the government's contention that she died of a skull fracture during a suicide attack as "lies" and Bhutto's close aide Sherry Rehman said she was shot in the head.
Sadiq said the government is "committed to a thorough and transparent investigation and is open to receiving assistance from outside" for the probe.
France, Britain and the US have offered assistance for the investigation, he said.
Noting that several leaders of friendly countries had condemned Bhutto's assassination and also offered help in the investigation, Sadiq said: "They were assured the government of Pakistan was making every effort to comprehensively investigate the dastardly assassination of Benazir Bhutto."
Sadiq said Bhutto's killing was a "great national tragedy and the nation is still in a state of shock and mourning".
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