The United States has termed as "credible" the Scotland Yard's findings that former Pakistan Premier Benazir Bhutto died due to the impact of a suicide bomb and not from a gunshot saying it has no reason to question the validity of assessment made by the British sleuths."... Certainly, I understand that this is an emotional issue - both for members of her family as well as for many people in Pakistan who supported Benazir Bhutto. In terms of the investigation itself by Scotland Yard, we view this as a credible investigation by independent, outside experts," state department deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters here yesterday."I'd leave it to them (Scotland Yard) to talk about both the conclusions that they've drawn as well as the limitations on some of the evidence they had to view. We don't have any reason why we would question the validity of their assessment," he said when asked to comment on the claim by Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party that it was indeed a bullet that felled their leader and hence there should be an independent investigation.Casey said it was important for people to feel that they have a clear understanding of what happened. "We aren't proposing anything particular, and I think it would be up to the Pakistanis to decide whether they felt they needed more review or investigation of this beyond what Scotland Yard and Pakistani authorities have already done." When asked to comment on President Pervez Musharraf having negotiations with the local Taliban in the tribal areas, Casey said "... I think our views on this are quite clear. There was an agreement that had been put in place with local tribal leaders previously."That agreement was designed to achieve what everyone's objectives are, which is to unite forces in the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Area) to work against the extremists there, whether they are Taliban, al-Qaeda, or home-grown."But everyone's account, including President Musharraf's, that agreement didn't work. And certainly we wouldn't want to see any other kind of arrangement made unless we had an understanding of how it would be effective in carrying out our common goals here, because, remember, this is a fight that's not a US fight or an international community fight. It's Pakistan's, as well," Casey added.He said: "We've been working very well with the government of Pakistan on these issues, but we certainly wouldn't want to see any kind of agreements made that would provide an opportunity for militants to either re-arm or otherwise continue to engage in cross-border activities or do anything else that would undermine our common goals. As far as I know, there's a lot of discussion out there, but I still don't believe we've been told that there is a specific proposal being pursued by the government of Pakistan on this." (Reporting by Sridhar Krishnaswami)
