Bhutto defiant over bomb attack

BBC, 19 October

Former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto has condemned the "dastardly and cowardly" suicide bomb attempt on her life.

In her first public comments since the attack, she said Pakistan was facing a battle for democracy with militants, and vowed to continue the struggle.

She said she had received prior warning that she would be targeted by four suicide bombers, and had passed this information to the government.

More than 130 people were killed in the attack on her convoy in Karachi.

Ms Bhutto, who had just returned to the country after eight years of self-imposed exile, was unhurt.

She told a news conference that before the bombing, shots had been fired at her vehicle to stop it. It was unclear whether the driver had been disabled by this gunfire, she said.


"Extremists will not be allowed to stop Pakistanis from selecting their representatives through an open and democratic process " - Gordon Johndroe /US presidential spokesman


Ms Bhutto also called for an inquiry into why the street lights along her route had been switched off. She said that while she was not blaming the government for the attacks, her security guards would have spotted suicide bombers if the street lights had been on.

"For me, the attack was not on an individual, the attack was on what I represent - it was an attack on democracy, an attack on the very unity and integrity of Pakistan," she said.

"What are the militants saying? They are saying it is not safe for peaceful people to gather together... this is a battle for democracy."

Ms Bhutto said those who had died in the attack - including 50 of her security guards - had made the "ultimate sacrifice" for democracy.

The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Karachi says Ms Bhutto is clearly attempting to portray herself as a brave fighter for democracy.

But he adds that there are bound to be questions about why, if she knew there would be a suicide bomb attack, she authorised such a slow public procession from the airport attended by hundreds of thousands of supporters.

Earlier, in an interview with Paris-Match magazine, she accused supporters of late military ruler Mohammed Zia ul-Haq of being behind the bomb attack against her.


KEY DATES


-06 Oct: Presidential polls held
-17 Oct: Supreme Court resumes hearing challenges to Musharraf candidacy
-18 Oct: Benazir Bhutto's homecoming
-15 Nov: Parliamentary term ends and general election must be held by mid-January


Zia overthrew Ms Bhutto's father, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1977, and had him hanged two years later. The military ruler died in mysterious circumstances in a plane crash in 1988.

Subsequent elections saw Ms Bhutto elected for the first of two stints as prime minister.

There were two explosions after midnight local time as Ms Bhutto and her entourage were moving slowly through a crowd of hundreds of thousands of supporters.

Hundreds of people were injured and there were scenes of chaos, with the streets littered with bodies and body parts.

"The first blast was caused by a hand grenade. The second was the suicide attack," Manzoor Mughal, a senior police official told Reuters news agency.

"The attacker ran into the crowd and blew himself up."

He added that the head of the suspected bomber had been found, and it was estimated he had had 15-20kg (33-44lb) of explosives strapped to his body.

'War on terror'

There has so far been no claim of responsibility, but police say they are investigating whether the attack has links to tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, which are deep wells of support for al-Qaeda and the Taleban.

Ms Bhutto - who heads the country's largest political force, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) - has professed her support for the US-led "war on terror", and said she was returning to Pakistan to combat extremism.

She escaped death or injury because she was travelling in an armoured truck.

Most of the dead were members of the PPP, although police vehicles took the main force of the blasts and more than 20 police officers are thought to have died. A cameraman for a local TV station was also killed.

Ms Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, has accused Pakistani intelligence agencies of involvement.

Ms Bhutto's return followed a deal with Pakistan's military ruler, President Pervez Musharraf. The two could end up sharing power after elections in January.

On both occasions that Ms Bhutto served as prime minister, her government was prematurely dismissed by the president of the day under special powers.

She left Pakistan in April 1999 - shortly before Gen Musharraf seized power in a coup, and two years after her husband was jailed and a series of corruption charges were brought against her. She denies the charges.