The Hindu : Benazir Bhutto survives Karachi carnage

Benazir Bhutto survives Karachi carnage

* 140 killed, hundreds injured in bomb blasts; Benazir suspects “three individuals” of conspiring against her
* Benazir terms it an attack on promise of democracy
* There were reports of deployment of suicide squads to kill her

Nirupama Subramanian | October 20, 2007

KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party leader Benazir Bhutto, who narrowly escaped an apparent attempt on her life hours after she returned to Pakistan from self-imposed exile, said on Friday the suspected suicide attack that killed at least 140 people and injured several hundred others (agencies said over 500 were injured) in her mammoth welcome procession, was not an attack on her, but on the promise of democracy and empowerment that she represented.

Ms. Bhutto said the attack would not deter her or her party from their mission to bring democracy to Pakistan.

“Campaign will go on”

“I and my colleagues want to save Pakistan by bringing democracy to Pakistan. We will not stop our campaign, we will not stop our struggle. In spite of our great loss yesterday, we will not be deterred,” the former Prime Minister said at a press conference.

The gruesome attack took place shortly after midnight on Thursday on the main road from the airport. Hundreds of thousands of PPP supporters were leading Ms. Bhutto in a slow procession to the mausoleum of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Pakistan’s founder, where she was to address a public gathering.

The impact of the two blasts in quick succession targeting the left side of the modified container truck on which she was travelling was powerful enough to cause some damage to the bullet proof vehicle.

Shortly before the blast, the former Prime Minister had gone down into the vehicle from the roof, where she had stood for hours waving to her supporters.

Ms. Bhutto said at a press conference that the blasts were suicide attacks. This was confirmed by the Sindh government.

“The attack was more than an attack on an individual. The attack was not on me, it was on what I represent. It was an attack on the unity and integrity of Pakistan, because PPP is a federal party. It was an attack on democracy because it attacked the empowerment of people, who want to escape from vested interests and hope for the opportunity of a better life,” she said.

But while PPP activists and leaders angrily blamed President Pervez Musharraf for engineering the attacks as it could not tolerate such a show of strength, Ms. Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan after an agreement with Gen. Musharraf, was more restrained.

She said she would not blame the government “at this stage,” that she suspected three individuals who she refused to name, either in government or with an association to it, of conspiring against her.

Ms. Bhutto said she had written two days before her arrival to Gen. Musharraf naming the three individuals. In addition, the government had received intelligence reports from a “brother country” of the deployment of four suicide squads in Karachi to kill her

“With all the information, the government should have been able to apprehend those involved, but I understand the difficulties,” she said.

The PPP leader said that Gen. Musharraf was among those who called her to enquire about her well-being. From India, BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Jaswant Singh telephoned her.

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