Son Urges UN Probe Into Bhutto's Death

New opposition leader calmly critical of US in first public remarks

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 8, 2008 1:34 PM CST

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Son Urges UN Probe Into Bhutto's Death — The new leader of the Pakistan People's Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, center, the son of Benazir Bhutto, attends a news conference at a hotel in London, flanked by his mother's sister Sanam Bhutto, second left, and family friend Simon Walker, second right, Tuesday Jan. 8, 2008. Zardari on Tuesday called... (Associated Press)

Benazir Bhutto’s 19-year-old son and successor today called for a UN-backed investigation into her assassination, saying he had no faith in the Pakistani government to solve the case, the Washington Post reports. "It is our belief that had she been provided with adequate protection she would be alive today," Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said in his first press conference since his accession.

Zardari criticized American support of Pervez Musharraf, saying “dictatorships feed extremism,” and defended his party’s decision to pass the torch to him. "It was a moment of crisis," he said. "We needed to show a united front.” Asked about his party’s future, he quoted a Pakistani saying: “How many Bhuttos can you kill? From every house a Bhutto will come." (More Bilawal Bhutto Zardari stories.)

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