Probe into Bhutto's killing almost complete: Gilani

Four years after former premier Benazir Bhutto was assassinated, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said the probe into the incident was almost complete and the ruling PPP will decide whether to make the findings public.

"(Bhutto's) killing was not only of national importance but it was an international issue. The investigation has been almost completed and the matter is sub-judice," Gilani told reporters at the Bhutto family's mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Baksh yesterday.

Speaking after he offered prayers at Benazir Bhutto's grave, Gilani said the central executive committee of the Pakistan People’s Party would decide whether any aspect of the investigation’s findings could be made public.

If such a decision is made, the Interior Minister will share the details with the people, he said. Responding to a volley of questions on the government's perceived failure to prosecute those responsible for Bhutto's assassination, Gilani said, "I don't want the inquiry to be affected in any manner." Benazir Bhutto twice served as Prime Minister in the late 1980s and 1990s but was unable to complete both terms.

After being removed on charges of corruption during her second term, she went into self-exile in 1998. She returned to Pakistan in late 2007 under a secret agreement with then military ruler Pervez Musharraf.

Weeks after her homecoming, she was killed by a suicide bomber shortly after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007. An anti-terrorism court is conducting the trial of five suspected terrorists charged with involvement in Bhutto's assassination and two police officers accused of negligence in providing her security.