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Islamabad denies it played a role in deadly bombing

Pakistan did everything it could to protect former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on her homecoming, a top government official insisted yesterday, dismissing accusations that officials may have been complicit in the attack that she escaped but that killed at least 136.

Bhutto blamed al-Qaeda and Taliban militants for the assassination attempt against her and vowed she was ready to risk her life to restore democracy to her troubled homeland.

But she also hinted on Friday that government or military officials could have been involved in the attack -- a charge the government rejected.

"I think we should stop playing blame games. The government provided the best possible security to her," Pakistani Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim said.

The list of people who could have targeted the pro-Western leader is long.

Bhutto blamed remnants of the regime of former military leader General Zia ul-Haq allegedly complicit in her father's execution. Islamic extremists could also be bent on stopping a female political leader from modernizing Pakistan.

"People's names have been mentioned and names have been hinted at without giving any reason or without giving any proof of their involvement, and that is unfair," Azim said.

Small skirmishes were reported but most of Karachi was calm.

A group of Bhutto supporters reportedly torched a private car and stoned a KFC outlet in a southern Karachi neighborhood, police said. Other minor incidents were reported, including groups being pelted with stones, Karachi police chief Azher Farooqi said.

He said there had been no major progress in the investigation behind the suicide attack.

Authorities say the suicide bombing bore the hallmarks of a warlord and the al-Qaeda terror network -- an attack that began with a man throwing a grenade into a sea of people following Bhutto's convoy and then blowing himself up with a device packed with nuts and bolts.

Officials said it remained unclear who was responsible.

"So far we cannot say it was done by al-Qaeda, but the investigations are still going on," Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said.

Bhutto supporters, meanwhile, said they were not yet even sure if the probe could be trusted.

"We will watch it carefully and respond and give our reaction depending on how it goes," said Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for Bhutto's party.

Pakistani TV showed footage on Friday of what it said was the severed head of the suspected suicide bomber -- an unshaven man in his 20s with curly hair and green eyes.

While two severed heads were found at the scene of the blast, a senior investigator involved in the probe, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the nature of his work, insisted there was only one bomber.

Another investigator, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said a team was scanning government databases in search of suspects. Investigators were focusing on requests for duplicate identity cards, he said, in the possibility that the bomber had used a card lost by someone else.

Meanwhile, a car-bomb killed five people and wounded 16 yesterday in the gas-rich southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan, where rebels have for decades been fighting for autonomy, police said.

A previously unknown rebel group, the Baluchistan Republican Army, claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to the Quetta Press Club.

Also see: Bhutto returns to Pakistan amid adulation, hope and uncertainty

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