KARACHI, Pakistan — A team of Scotland Yard investigators will investigate the killing of Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced in a nationwide address Wednesday night. Meanwhile, Musharraf defended the postponement of parliamentary elections until Feb. 18, a decision that opposition parties condemned but said they would grudgingly accept.
Authorities have come under intense criticism for hosing down the crime scene within minutes of last week’s gun-and-bomb attack against Bhutto, a former two-term prime minister. Critics have also said the government erred by announcing that, rather than being killed in gunfire, Bhutto died after the force of a bombing caused her head to slam against the lever of a vehicle sunroof.
It is unclear how much the Scotland Yard investigators, due in Pakistan this weekend, can accomplish given that much of the evidence has been destroyed.
The controversy about exactly how Bhutto died has contributed to deep suspicion over who carried out the attack. Musharraf said Wednesday that he had no doubt Islamic extremists were behind Bhutto’s murder.
But Bhutto’s party said it was not satisfied with Musharraf’s plans to bring in the British investigators, and continued to press for a U.N.-led inquiry.
Musharraf’s acceptance of British investigators came on the same day that the election commission said voting scheduled for Tuesday will instead take place on Feb. 18.
The delay, the commission said, was unavoidable because of damage sustained in riots last week after Bhutto’s death, including several ransacked election commission offices.
“It was inevitable, and the decision of delaying the election is quite right,” said Musharraf, whose party had backed the delay.
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