Pakistan open to help on Bhutto probe

The Govt is 'open to receiving assistance from outside' in the Bhutto murder probe, says Pakistan's foreign office.

Pakistan's foreign office said on Wednesday that the government was "open to receiving assistance from outside" in the investigation into the killing of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

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"The government is committed to a thorough and transparent investigation and is open to receiving assistance from outside," foreign office spokesman Mohammed Sadiq told reporters.

He said visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had offered help with the probe on Wednesday, while the United States and Britain had already told Pakistan that they could assist in the investigation.

President Pervez Musharraf has faced calls from Bhutto's party as well as some political figures in the United States, which counts the president as a crucial ally in the "war on terror", for an international investigation.

Government officials had previously rejected an international inquiry. The interior ministry on Saturday said that Pakistan did not require foreign help, saying that the international community "does not understand the environment" in the country.