Fully cooperated with UN’s Benazir panel: State Dept

WASHINGTON: The State Department has said that former prime minister Benazir Bhutto assassination was a result of “failures at a number of levels where she did not have the protection that she deserved and obviously needed”.

Spokesman Philip Crowley said the US “cooperated fully” with the UN probe, adding that Washington reiterated its pledge to help Pakistan develop democracy.

“The assassination was a tragedy for the people of Pakistan,” Crowley told reporters. “Benazir Bhutto gave her life in defence of the development of Pakistan’s democratic institutions.”

“We will continue to work with Pakistan to make sure that we build the institutions of democracy going forward,” Crowley said. Crowley declined to comment on the particulars of the report.