Pakistan, UN reach understanding on Benazir slaying probe

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UNITED NATIONS, Jul 11 (AFP): Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi reached a tentative deal with UN chief Ban Ki-moon Thursday on setting up an independent panel to probe the slaying of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the world body said.

A UN statement said broad understanding was reached on the nature and composition of the proposed panel, funding modalities, unhindered access to all sources of relevant information and elements to safeguard "the objectivity, impartiality and independence" of the commission.

It said Ban told Qureshi during their meeting here that "further consultation with Pakistan and others within the Organisation would be required to examine the modalities and structure" of the panel.

Last month Pakistan's new government officially asked the world body to set up an international panel "for the purpose of identifying the culprits, perpetrators, organisers and financiers" behind the Bhutto assassination last December.

Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack on December 27 in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near the capital Islamabad.