Pakistan Blasts That Killed 136 Blamed on Taliban Warlord

Oct 19, 06:01 PM

Current Headlines: By ED HARRIS

THE blasts that ripped through a huge crowd which gathered to greet former premier Benazir Bhutto, killing 136 people, were a "conspiracy against democracy", Pakistan's president said today.

General Pervez Musharraf spoke as the two explosions, which took place in Karachi as Ms Bhutto returned from exile, were linked to a pro-Taliban warlord based near the Afghan border.

A police investigator said the group of militant leader Baitullah Mehsud was suspected.

Provincial government officials had warned Ms Bhutto over intelligence reports that three suicide bombers linked to Mehsud were in Karachi.

They had also indicated she could be targeted by the Taliban or al Qaeda. Earlier this month, local media quoted

Mehsud as vowing to greet Ms Bhutto's return with suicide attacks. Interior ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said it was too early to identify the attackers, but added: "Definitely, it is the work of the militants and terrorists." However Ms Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari, speaking in Dubai today, told a TV station: "I blame government for these blasts. It is the work of the intelligence agencies." Mr Musharraf appealed for calm and pledged the government would take "every step" to find the killers.

At least 250 people were injured in yesterday's explosions a grenade blast and a suicide bombing. They shattered the jubilant atmosphere in Karachi during Ms Bhutto's homecoming procession from the airport after eight years' exile.

They went off near a truck carrying Ms Bhutto, shattering its windows and pockmarking its metal sides. TV pictures showed her being helped, dazed but uninjured, to her house nearby. Bodies lay in the street alongside the truck, with its mural reading "Long Live Bhutto".

Pools of blood, broken glass, tyres, motorcycles and bits of clothing littered the ground. Police said they had found the severed head of a young man believed to have been the bomber.

Ms Bhutto has infuriated Islamists by taking a pro-US line and negotiating a possible alliance with General Musharraf, who took power in a coup in 1999. She will lead her Pakistan People's Party in January's parliamentary elections..

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