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ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's interior ministry said Saturday that the international community "does not understand the environment" in the country, ruling out international help in probing Benazir Bhutto's death.
With questions raised about the official account of how she died, which has been rejected by Bhutto's aides and supporters, ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema said the Pakistan government had told the truth.
He added that the government would let the former premier's body be exhumed for inquiry if Bhutto's party asked.
"We do not require the assistance of the international community," he said when asked about calls for an outside probe into her assassination, which has plunged the nuclear-armed Islamic nation deeper into turmoil.
"We understand the environment, the international community does not understand the environment," Cheema told a news conference.
The government said that Bhutto died after banging her head on the sunroof of her vehicle while trying to duck when an attacker came up and started firing before blowing herself up. It said she had no bullet wounds.
The account has been rejected by her Pakistan People's Party (PPP), and a key aide and witness who washed her body told AFP earlier that she had seen a bullet wound in Bhutto's head.
"We have given you the facts, we have shared the evidence with you," said Cheema, who on Friday distributed what he said was a transcript of an alleged Al-Qaeda official discussing Bhutto's killing with a militant after the fact.
"If the PPP leadership says, her body can be exhumed," Cheema said.
He played down the controversy over how the populist opposition leader, who escaped a previous attack in October within hours of returning to the country from exile, had died.
"Whether she died of a bullet or a wound... the fact is, unfortunately we have lost her," he said.
A spokesman for Baitullah Mehsud, the alleged Al-Qaeda figure quoted in the government's transcript, denied any involvement in Bhutto's death.
But Cheema said "no criminal would ever accept" responsibility for his crimes and that the government version was accurate.
"We have the evidence that he is involved and let the investigation work on that," Cheema said. He added that the government account was "absolute facts -- nothing but facts".
Bhutto's assassination has put the political turmoil in this nuclear-armed nation of 160 million people in the world spotlight, and US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has led calls for an international probe of her death.
"We need an international, independent investigation into the death of Benazir Bhutto," Clinton said during a pell-mell campaign swing through Iowa, which kicks off party nominating contests on Thursday.
- AFP /ls
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