United Nation, April 16,2010 : A long-awaited UN report into the killing of Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto two years ago has been highly critical of the government of the day.

In a damning report, a UN investigation into Benazir Bhutto’s killing on Friday concluded that the military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s government “failed” to protect the ex-premier despite being aware of the serious threats to her life.

It says Bhutto’s death at a rally near Islamabad could have been prevented if proper security measures had been taken by Gen Pervez Musharraf’s government.

The subsequent investigation into the crime was also sharply criticised.

It was noted that the crime scene in Rawalpindi was hosed down immediately after the explosion.

The report says, could not have happened without the knowledge of higher authorities.The report, compiled by an independent commission appointed by the UN, concludes that the pervasive presence of Pakistan’s politicised intelligence agencies hampered the investigation.

The investigators stressed that besides passing on messages of the serious threats to Bhutto, no proactive measures were taken by the authorities to neutralise the danger. However, the report does not reveal who killed Bhutto.

“The responsibility for Bhutto’s security on the day of the assassination rested with the federal government, the government of Punjab and the Rawalpindi district police… none of these entities took the necessary measures to respond to the extraordinary fresh and urgent security risk that they knew she faced

The UN report had been due to be published at the end of March but was delayed for two weeks at the request of Bhutto’s widower, Pakistani President Asif Zardari, who had called for the investigation.

The government said it wanted extra time to include input from Afghanistan, the US and Saudi Arabia, three countries that had apparently warned Bhutto of a death threat.

The three-member panel was mandated to investigate the facts and circumstances of Bhutto’s death, not assign criminal responsibility.

Gen Musharraf declared that the late head of the Pakistani Taliban, Beitullah Mehsud, organised the assassination.

Bhutto herself wrote that four suicide squads were after her, some linked to al-Qaeda.But she also accused a group of senior politicians and intelligence officials of plotting to kill her, and many of her followers blame elements of the military establishment and Gen Musharraf’s government for her death.

The commission was set up in July last year in response to a request from Pakistan.Speaking at a news conference at the UN in New York, the head of the commission, Heraldo Munoz, said the authorities had failed to protect Bhutto and to investigate her assassination properly.