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Bhutto's motorcade bombed!
2 blasts hit near Bhutto after her dramatic return to Pakistan
KARACHI, PAKISTAN -- Two explosions rocked the convoy carrying former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto early Friday, killing at least two dozen people and injuring up to 100 others amid what had been a joyous celebration of her return from self-imposed exile. Authorities said Bhutto was not hurt.
The blasts, shortly after midnight, tore through a huge crowd surrounding the truck on which Bhutto was riding, sending flames leaping into the night sky. Police said they believed at least one of the explosions was a suicide attack.
Witnesses said the explosions scattered body parts and debris as the convoy approached the mausoleum of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, where Bhutto was to have addressed the enormous crowd.
Her plane had landed nearly 12 hours earlier, and her convoy was slowly making its way from the airport to the city center.
Bhutto had arrived to a delirious welcome from flag-waving, drum-beating supporters who mobbed the airport and danced in the streets to greet her.
Bhutto's commercial flight from Dubai, where she has spent much of her eight-year exile, touched down shortly before 2 p.m. today, nearly an hour behind schedule. Tens of thousands of supporters of her Pakistan People's Party had already spent hours waiting under a hot sun, sheltering under makeshift tents and canopies.
Many of those who traveled from elsewhere in Pakistan to welcome Bhutto spent the night in parks and traffic roundabouts so that tight security would not prevent them from watching her bulletproof vehicle pass by.
Bhutto, with a white head scarf draped loosely over her black hair, disembarked from the plane to cheers and whoops of jubilation from supporters. She wiped tears from her eyes as she waved to the crowd that surged onto the tarmac.
The former leader's return marks a turbulent new phase in Pakistani politics. She has forged an alliance with the unpopular president, Pervez Musharraf, who is also chief of the army. But any power-sharing arrangement between the two could swiftly unravel, particularly if court challenges to Musharraf's election to a new presidential term are upheld.
Bhutto intends to lead her party in parliamentary elections that are to take place by early next year, and hopes to win a constitutional waiver to serve a third term as prime minister.
Karachi, the country's largest city and Bhutto's power base, was all but paralyzed by the homecoming. Authorities blocked normal traffic on the city's main north-south artery, but allowed convoys of Bhutto supporters to pass. Supporters hung from the roofs and doorways of overcrowded buses.
Schools and many shops were closed as thousands of police and paramilitary troops, including bomb-disposal squads, fanned out along the route from the airport.
The scene aboard the plane from Dubai was a raucous one, with supporters standing in the aisles and chanting slogans, ignoring pleas from flight attendants to sit down.
Bhutto went into voluntary exile eight years ago because of corruption charges stemming from her two terms in office. Earlier this month, Musharraf granted her an amnesty, paving the way for her return.
Bhutto, 54, was thrust into public life at a young age. Her father, Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was deposed by military leader Gen. Zia ul-Haq and hanged in April of 1979. She subsequently spent years in jail, under house arrest or in exile before making a triumphal return to Pakistan in 1986.
Two years later, at the age of 35, she became the Muslim world's first popularly elected female prime minister.
Much of Bhutto's popularity hinges on reverence for her executed father. Many billboards bearing her image show his face as well, as a ghostly backdrop to hers.
Although her power-sharing talks with Musharraf have hurt her popularity, Bhutto has sought to present the prospective alliance as a means of ensuring an orderly transition to civilian rule. Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup.
Bhutto takes credit for helping pressure Musharraf into a pledge to give up his post as army chief before being inaugurated in mid-November to a new term as president. But many wonder whether he will keep that pledge.
It is widely feared that the general will impose martial law if the Supreme Court rules that his Oct. 6 re-election by lawmakers was invalid. Opponents said the vote should not have been held while Musharraf continued in his role as head of the military.
KARACHI, PAKISTAN -- Two explosions rocked the convoy carrying former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto early Friday, killing at least two dozen people and injuring up to 100 others amid what had been a joyous celebration of her return from self-imposed exile. Authorities said Bhutto was not hurt.
The blasts, shortly after midnight, tore through a huge crowd surrounding the truck on which Bhutto was riding, sending flames leaping into the night sky. Police said they believed at least one of the explosions was a suicide attack.
Witnesses said the explosions scattered body parts and debris as the convoy approached the mausoleum of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, where Bhutto was to have addressed the enormous crowd.
Her plane had landed nearly 12 hours earlier, and her convoy was slowly making its way from the airport to the city center.
Bhutto had arrived to a delirious welcome from flag-waving, drum-beating supporters who mobbed the airport and danced in the streets to greet her.
Bhutto's commercial flight from Dubai, where she has spent much of her eight-year exile, touched down shortly before 2 p.m. today, nearly an hour behind schedule. Tens of thousands of supporters of her Pakistan People's Party had already spent hours waiting under a hot sun, sheltering under makeshift tents and canopies.
Many of those who traveled from elsewhere in Pakistan to welcome Bhutto spent the night in parks and traffic roundabouts so that tight security would not prevent them from watching her bulletproof vehicle pass by.
Bhutto, with a white head scarf draped loosely over her black hair, disembarked from the plane to cheers and whoops of jubilation from supporters. She wiped tears from her eyes as she waved to the crowd that surged onto the tarmac.
The former leader's return marks a turbulent new phase in Pakistani politics. She has forged an alliance with the unpopular president, Pervez Musharraf, who is also chief of the army. But any power-sharing arrangement between the two could swiftly unravel, particularly if court challenges to Musharraf's election to a new presidential term are upheld.
Bhutto intends to lead her party in parliamentary elections that are to take place by early next year, and hopes to win a constitutional waiver to serve a third term as prime minister.
Karachi, the country's largest city and Bhutto's power base, was all but paralyzed by the homecoming. Authorities blocked normal traffic on the city's main north-south artery, but allowed convoys of Bhutto supporters to pass. Supporters hung from the roofs and doorways of overcrowded buses.
Schools and many shops were closed as thousands of police and paramilitary troops, including bomb-disposal squads, fanned out along the route from the airport.
The scene aboard the plane from Dubai was a raucous one, with supporters standing in the aisles and chanting slogans, ignoring pleas from flight attendants to sit down.
Bhutto went into voluntary exile eight years ago because of corruption charges stemming from her two terms in office. Earlier this month, Musharraf granted her an amnesty, paving the way for her return.
Bhutto, 54, was thrust into public life at a young age. Her father, Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was deposed by military leader Gen. Zia ul-Haq and hanged in April of 1979. She subsequently spent years in jail, under house arrest or in exile before making a triumphal return to Pakistan in 1986.
Two years later, at the age of 35, she became the Muslim world's first popularly elected female prime minister.
Much of Bhutto's popularity hinges on reverence for her executed father. Many billboards bearing her image show his face as well, as a ghostly backdrop to hers.
Although her power-sharing talks with Musharraf have hurt her popularity, Bhutto has sought to present the prospective alliance as a means of ensuring an orderly transition to civilian rule. Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup.
Bhutto takes credit for helping pressure Musharraf into a pledge to give up his post as army chief before being inaugurated in mid-November to a new term as president. But many wonder whether he will keep that pledge.
It is widely feared that the general will impose martial law if the Supreme Court rules that his Oct. 6 re-election by lawmakers was invalid. Opponents said the vote should not have been held while Musharraf continued in his role as head of the military.
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