British police arrive in Pakistan

Scotland Yard investigators arrived Friday in Pakistan to help investigate the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, although the extent of their mandate was unclear.

The team of British anti-terrorism officers was dispatched after President Pervez Musharraf, under intense criticism over the handling of the Bhutto inquiry, agreed to accept outside assistance.

Musharraf’s government initially had rebuffed international participation of any kind in the investigation. The former prime minister was killed Dec. 27 when a gunman and a suicide bomber attacked her convoy as she left a rally in the city of Rawalpindi.

At a news conference on the eve of the investigators’ arrival, Musharraf said the British team would provide forensic and technical assistance. The Pakistani leader emphasized that Scotland Yard would not be permitted to engage in “a wild goose chase and create a political disturbance.”

The investigators made no comment as they landed at the Islamabad airport. Government officials speaking on condition of anonymity said they were expected to begin work this morning.

Much crucial evidence will be unavailable to the British team. Pakistani police hosed down the crime scene within 90 minutes of the attack, destroying many physical traces of the assault. No formal autopsy was performed. Doctors who treated Bhutto in the chaotic aftermath of the attack have recanted initial statements about the nature of the injuries, apparently gunshot wounds, that killed her.

Musharraf has denied that any elements in his government played a role in the attack.

“Nobody is involved from the government side or the agencies,” he told reporters Thursday, referring to Pakistan’s powerful and far-reaching security apparatus.

Even before a massive suicide bombing targeted her convoy, after her Oct. 18 homecoming from self-imposed exile, Bhutto wrote to Musharraf and told him she believed that elements in the government and ruling party intended her harm.

Bhutto, 54, an iconic figure in Pakistani politics, returned to the country to lead her Pakistan People’s Party in elections that were originally scheduled for Jan. 8. Amid unrest that followed her death, the polling was postponed until Feb. 18.

The two major opposition parties, Bhutto’s and that of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, have agreed to take part in the polling but have said they believe there will be major vote-rigging by the ruling party.

It had been feared that the election delay would spark unrest echoing the riots that broke out after Bhutto’s assassination, which caused tens of millions of dollars in damage and killed nearly 60 people. But the streets of Pakistan’s major cities, though tense, have been largely calm.

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laura.king@latimes.com