Guardian : Q&A: Pakistan bombing

Q&A: Pakistan bombing

Guardian Unlimited | October 19, 2007

A suicide bombing has killed more than 130 people, narrowly missing Benazir Bhutto, during a procession in Karachi. Mark Tran looks at the background to the assassination attempt on Pakistan's former prime minister:

Who are the suspects?
No one claimed responsibility for the blast, one of the deadliest bombings in Pakistani history. But even before Ms Bhutto arrived back in Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile, there had been open threats against her.

A pro-Taliban militant leader, Baitullah Masood, said he would target her with suicide attacks. Mr Masood, probably the most prominent militant leader in the northwestern region bordering Afghanistan, is also accused of carrying out attacks on Pakistani soldiers. His men are holding more than 200 Pakistani soldiers abducted recently.

This week, another militant commander, Haji Omar, said: "She has an agreement with America. We will carry out attacks on Benazir Bhutto as we did on General Pervez Musharraf [Pakistan's president]."

Who else is in the frame?
Ms Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who is in Dubai, where the couple have been living in exile, has accused members of the security services, the ISI. "I blame government for these blasts. It is the work of the intelligence agencies," he said.

Elements of the ISI sympathise with the Taliban and it is a possibility that "rogue elements" in the intelligence services were behind yesterday's attacks. The ISI became one of Pakistan's most powerful institutions under General Zia-ul-Haq, the man who launched an Islamisation campaign and who overthrew Ms Bhutto's father and had him hung. After Gen Zia's death in a mysterious plane crash in 1988, the ISI actively campaigned against Ms Bhutto when she entered politics.

What has been Gen Musharraf's response?
Gen Musharraf said he was "deeply shocked" by the midnight explosions, which went off near a truck carrying Ms Bhutto. The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported he "condemned this attack in the strongest possible words. He said this was a conspiracy against democracy". Gen Musharraf, who has been in negotiations with Ms Bhutto on a power-sharing deal, has survived at least three assassination attempts himself. The latest took place in July when an unknown group fired an anti-aircraft gun at his plane as it took off from a runway in Rawalpindi.

What precautions were taken yesterday?
Police sealed off side roads with shipping containers, and bomb squads combed the streets. More than 3,500 police officers and 5,000 supporters patrolled the route and city schools were closed. Authorities had warned Ms Bhutto that extremists sympathetic to the Taliban and al-Qaida could try to assassinate her and urged her to take a helicopter to reduce the risk. "I am not scared. I am thinking of my mission," she had told reporters on the plane from Dubai.

What happened?
Leaving the airport, Ms Bhutto refused to use a bulletproof glass cubicle that had been built on top of a truck taking her toward the tomb of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Her procession had been inching toward the centre of Karachi for 10 hours. As supporters thronged her truck, a small explosion occurred near the front of the vehicle, quickly followed by a larger blast, destroying two escorting police vans. The former prime minister had just gone to a downstairs compartment for a rest when the blast occurred, said Christina Lamb, Ms Bhutto's biographer. "So she wasn't on top in the open like rest of us, so that just saved her," Ms Lamb told Sky News.

What happens next?
The Pakistani authorities have begun their investigation. The authorities say the head of the suspected bomber has been found. It was estimated he had 15-20kg (33-36lbs) of explosives strapped to his body. Typically, the upward force from a blast blows off the head a bomber. "The attacker appears to be 20-21 years old, and had 48-hour stubble," an investigator said. A sketch was being made and DNA samples taken.

Ms Bhutto is meeting officials from her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in Karachi to discuss her next moves.