THE UN's consent to conduct an inquiry into the killing of PPP leader Benazir Bhutto is welcome. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told journalists in New York on Friday that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had agreed to help the country find her assassin. A commission would soon be formed for investigation, which would report simultaneously to the government of Pakistan and Secretary General. There is certainly some hope that the UN probe would unravel the mystery so that the people of Pakistan, rather the whole world knows who was behind the ill-intentioned murder. However, somehow the manner in which the PPP led government has handled the case of its chairperson's assassination really does not deserve much praise. While on the one hand there is too much of procrastination on the other, it looks like a buck-passing exercise going on from every quarter. Apart from that, the logic of asking the UN to intervene in the matter too has its own caveats. Not that the body was lacking in its ability to investigate, far from that, but it does not quite make sense asking some international organization to help us since a PPP government itself holds the reins of power. Therefore that seems to be an implicit acceptance by the government that it is not really at the helm or that its security agencies are not that capable. There is another element to the case as well. Soon after Benazir's death, the government had said that it was Baitullah Mehsud who was behind the killing. It aired the recorded discussion by Mehsud and his men congratulating each other at the success of the assassination plot. But now the set-up has come up with a new version of the story saying that her murder was part of some international conspiracy. Thus, it has sought the help of the UN for a worldwide probe. One really finds it hard to knit the two statements. That is hardly the way to go about a case whose outcome is indeed desperately anticipated by the nation. It is moreover a sad commentary on the state of law and order situation in the country where the people are left with little hope of justice for themselves. Though there is some satisfaction in Advisor to PM on Interior Rehman Malik's statement that the government had some tangible evidence, which would be shared with the UN, the fact remains that a fairly long span of time has passed and the killers are still at large. The seemingly half-hearted approach to uncover the mystery gives an easy feeling that they might go scot-free.