Unrest in southern Pakistan over Bhutto attack (Roundup)

Oct 20, 2007, 12:40 GMT

A supporter of Benazir Bhutto the former Prime Minister and leader of opposition Pakistan People Party, burn woods during a protest against October 18 suicide bomb blasts in Karachi, Pakistan, 20 October 2007. The city remained tense on third day after October 18 blasts which killed at least 139 people. EPA/NAEEM UL HAQ

Islamabad - Hundreds of angry demonstrators held rallies and blocked roads by setting ablaze tyres in several cities across southern Pakistan as Islamic militants denied staging a suicide attack on former premier Benazir Bhutto which claimed 139 lives.

All the main markets remained closed and traffic remained off the roads in many districts of the southern port city of Karachi, where two explosions ripped through a procession Bhutto was leading after she arrived from Dubai ending an eight-year, self-imposed exile on Thursday.

Authorities said a single attacker first threw a grenade to break through the security cordon and then detonated the suicide jacket containing around 15 kilogrammes of RDX explosive as he approached the bullet proof truck Bhutto was travelling in.

Dozens of stick-wielding young men forced traders to close shops in Karachi's Liari district and hurled stones at riot police.

'We have deployed additional police troops to control the mob,' city police chief Azhar Farooqi told Deutsce Presse-Agentur dpa, claiming that the situation was normal in 90 per cent of the city.

But five people were injured in the city when an angry mob set fire to a vehicle after beating up the driver.

Hundreds of people took to the streets chanting anti-government slogans after attending the funeral of four victims of Thursday's bombing in Nawab Shah, around 130 kilometres north of Karachi.

No one has claimed responsibility for the deadly explosions. However, several government officials, including Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao, Friday pointed at a pro-Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud based in the country's tribal region near Afghanistan.

Local media reported him saying earlier this month that Bhutto would be welcomed with suicide attacks because of her support for the United States, against which they are fighting in Afghanistan.

However, the warlord denied the allegation in a statement published Saturday: 'We cannot even think of killing innocent people,' Mehsud's spokesman told the daily News.

'Our jihad (holy war) is directed only against US and its allies,' he said, adding that the threats attributed to him were the result of misreporting.

Many Islamic extremist groups are enraged by a recently brokered US backed power-sharing deal between Musharraf and Bhutto.

Washington believes it would maintain stability in the nuclear-armed state, and heighten the fight against rising militancy in the volatile tribal regions.

The Taliban spokesman did not rule out any future attack on Bhutto.

'Ours is a struggle for implementation of Islam and Sharia in Wairistan that is there to continue and any hurdle in the process would not be tolerated,' Khan said.

Mehsud has been fighting with Pakistani forces since August when he scrapped a 2005 peace deal with the government under which he was obliged to deny shelter to Afghan, Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists.

Currently, he is holding over 200 Pakistan soldiers, who were surrounded and disarmed in the tribal district of South Waziristan on August 30.

The liberal opposition leader also suspects Islamic militants of involvement in the blasts, but has simultaneously blamed some elements within Musharraf's government of perhaps staging the attacks.

'I am not accusing the government. I am accusing people, certain individuals who abuse their positions. Who abuse their powers,' Bhutto said, adding that she had written a letter to Musharraf and mentioned three people who wanted her dead.

The opposition leader did not disclose the names but some media reports claim they were: Ijaz Shah, the head of the civilian spy agency Intelligence Bureau and her two old political rivals and the chief ministers of Punjab and Sindh provinces.

All three are believed to be particularly close to Musharraf, who came to power in a bloodless military coup in 1999.

Police in Karachi are satisfied with the progress of investigations into the incident.

'We are working on several pieces of evidence we collected from the site, including the head of a suspected bomber,' Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi told dpa. The sketch of the partly damaged head has already been released to the media.

The devastating attacks have raised fears over prospects of forthcoming general elections in January 2008.

The chief of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, has urged the government to ban rallies during the election campaign.

But the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters on Friday that elections would be held on time.