UNITED NATIONS, April 15 -- In investigating the murder of Benazir Bhutto, the UN Commission of Inquiry lead by Chile's Heraldo Munoz was urged to interview Condoleezza Rice, Hamid Karzai and the intelligence chiefs of the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
When Munoz unveiled the report on April 15, Inner City Press asked him pointedly if he had, in fact, been rebuffed by Condi Rice and by Saudi Arabia's Mugran bin Abdul Aziz. Munoz said that while some had declined to be interviewed, the Commission had received information that it needed.
Inner City Press insisted -- did he interview Condi Rice or not? No, Munoz conceded. Condoleezza Rice had said she was "not available." Video here, near end.
Why would a former U.S. Secretary of State refuse to meet with the UN Commission of Inquiry into the death of an icon like Benazir Bhutto? Condi Rice's spokeswoman Carolyn Beswick has said that Mr. Rice "does not give interviews."
After the press conference, Inner City Press asked Munoz fellow panelist Marzuki Darsman, the former attorney general of Indonesia, if he had interviewed Mugran bin Abdul Aziz. The answer was no, and also no for former US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad, intimitately involved in negotiating Benazir Bhutto's return to Pakistan.
As Inner City Press told Pakistani television channels after the press conference, the report thus raises more questions. Watch this site.
Footnote: Pakistan's Ambassador Haroon, who had be slated to speak with the Press at 5:15 at the Security Council stakeout, canceled that appearance at the last moment -- but not before the 15 Council members' flags had been moved to cover up the words "Security Council" on the backdrop behind the microphone. Is Pakistan worried about being put, like Afghanistan, on the Security Council's agenda?
