Scotland Yard to help investigate Benazir assassination:Musharraf

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Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has announced that elite Scotland Yard has agreed to help investigate Benazir Bhutto’s assassination even as Parliamentary polls scheduled for 8th Jan were deferred until 18th Feb by Election Commission.
“In the light of the circumstances (following the assassination of Bhutto), the new date for general elections is 18 February 2008 instead of January 8,” Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Mohammad Farooq told a press conference in Islamabad on Wednesday.
“I assure all political parties that the elections will be fair, free and transparent. I appeal to them to accept this decision in the supreme national interest and participate fully.”
The elections cannot be held now now because of the law and order situation in the wake of the assassination of Bhutto on 27th December and the ‘Moharram’ period starting later part of next week, he said.
Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was not in favour of delaying the polls.
PML-N of another former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also wanted the elections to go ahead as scheduled.
However, the PML-Q, which backs President Pervez Musharraf, had been demanding the postponement of the general elections.
The Election Commission announcement came hours before Musharraf’s address to the nation on radio and television during which he is expected to focus on the situation in the country following Bhutto’s killing.
After chairing a series of meetings since Monday to assess the situation across the country, Farooq said that another reason for postponement of elections was the disruption of poll preparations following the killing of Bhutto.
Asked if the army would be deployed for ensuring security during the polls, Farooq said no decision had been taken as yet in this regard.
“When the time comes, we will consult the provincial governments and take the law and order situation into consideration before making a decision (about deploying the army),” he said.
The Election Commission had earlier asked the electoral offices in the four provinces of Balochsitan, Sindh, Punjab and North West Frontier Province to submit reports on the law and order situation and poll preparations in their respective regions.

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