Pakistani president narrowly misses explosion

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — A bomb exploded minutes after a motorcade carrying the Pakistani president passed a road near the capital on Sunday, but no one was hurt, officials said.
The blast damaged a bridge in Rawalpindi, about 10 miles from the capital, Islamabad, but President Gen. Pervez Musharraf was not harmed, state television PTV reported.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told The Associated Press that the president was returning to his home at Army House in Rawalpindi from the city’s airport after a visit to the southern city of Karachi.

Ahmed said it was a bomb explosion and an investigation was under way.

Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, a military spokesman, confirmed that the explosion happened soon after the president’s vehicle passed.

“His cavalcade had passed safely,” he told AP. He declined to elaborate on who might have carried out such an attack on the president.

GEO TV, a private network, reported the blast happened 10 minutes after Musharraf passed the spot in Rawalpindi.

Musharraf, the army chief, toppled an elected government in 1999 in a bloodless coup.

There have been at least two past attempts to assassinate the Pakistani leader.

Both attacks failed, one when a car packed with explosives failed to detonate as Musharraf passed on a congested road in the southern port city of Karachi. Five militants were arrested for involvement in that attack.

Musharraf earned the wrath of hard-line Islamic groups after he choose to abandon the Taliban regime of neighboring Afghanistan and back the U.S.-led war against Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda regime.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-12-14-pakistan_x.htm

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those %#&&@#.

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It would have been a catastrophe had Musharaf been eliminated at this point just when there are some semblance of order in Pakistan and some moves towards peace from both countries. Who did this?

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idiot terrorists.They cant execute a single plan

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by fair_&_balance: *
idiot terrorists.They cant execute a single plan
[/QUOTE]

Are you sadden by this fact?

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by fair_&_balance: *
idiot terrorists.They cant execute a single plan
[/QUOTE]

errr WTC, pentagon, USS Cole, Riyadh, Khobar...thats just some of the plans they unfortunately were able to execute. they have failed in some lately including this one and that for US deputy sec when he was in Iraq.

It almost seems like u were hoping they were successful..

not very fair..or balanced approach

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The way Musharraf is treating our religious leaders it is not even surprising that such an incident happened.. yeh to hona hi thaa.. During my last visit to Lahore, not many maulanas were pleased with Musharraf and his anit-Islamic stands.. plus his siding with the Western countries has left too many disgruntled.. he is not an ideal leader of an Islamic nation

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thats very interesting ... infact can't rule out foreign involvment (with some internal support) in this issue, who wanna see an unstabilized country.. I never get one thing about our leaders... is he stoping any pakistani to exercise his religiouse beleives or what! .. yes he is stoping them from just stand up and do blindly what their leaders say... one should be very careful what to do with current geographical and political situation.. diplomecy is the best thing at this time... he didn't innvolve Pakistan in gulf crises (which is in my opinion is a good thing).. or should he?.. the problem with common paistani is that they think from the heart, not what their mind say.

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Iluvatar

good point, people get emotional. Now whether or nto "molvis" ( i will never use the term maulana for a human) like his or not does not make it right for anyone to take his life and that of people who were around him. There is no justification.

as far as molvis not being happy with him, what is their alternative..have they ever produced a realm plan to do anything aside from a project plan to rip posters and break cds?

He is teh right leader for Pakistan right now..not a perfect leader..no one is, but he is teh right person for the current times. I am glad he was not harmed because that would have created major issues and turmoil in Pakistan.

who would the molvis suggest run Pakistan? fazloo? yeah right

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Fraudz: *
Iluvatar

He is teh right leader for Pakistan right now..not a perfect leader..no one is, but he is teh right person for the current times. I am glad he was not harmed because that would have created major issues and turmoil in Pakistan.

[/QUOTE]

Last month, Chandrababu Naidu, CM of Andhra Pradesh had a narrow escape when the route he was travelling on was heavily mined, but thanks to the armour on his car he didnt die. He too, though not perfect seems to be the right leader at the right time.

Naidu wasted no time in saying that it was just that his time had not come.

I think Musharaff should take strength from this, realise that time is running out for him, and try to execute his vision as soon as possible.....

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by mulz: *
The way Musharraf is treating our religious leaders it is not even surprising that such an incident happened.. yeh to hona hi thaa..During my last visit to Lahore, not many maulanas were pleased with Musharraf and his anit-Islamic stands.. plus his siding with the Western countries has left too many disgruntled.. he is not an ideal leader of an Islamic nation
[/QUOTE]

He cant b more "Jaahil and kameena" then those who r trying 2 kill him. btw he's not Jaahil he's genl. of pak army.... daah
Kameena: hmmm maulanas dot like tht Zaat baat think!!! so wat if he is a kami.... (I dot know but I dot think is a kami)

[QUOTE]
During my last visit to Lahore, not many maulanas were pleased with Musharraf and his anit-Islamic stands..
[/QUOTE]

Jo pasand nah aye usse mar do thts not what Islam tell us

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by I Know: *

Jo pasand nah aye usse mar do thts not what Islam tell us
[/QUOTE]

^^ thats exctly we are doing from last 55 years... Liaquat Ali Khan, Bhutto, Zia ul Haq.... even if we don't like people from some part of the coutry... screw them .. (1971) ... we learnt nothing from our history and sorry to say will not... we always cheer up for one leader and after two three years start cheering up for some other person... like a bunch of monkeys

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Fraudz: *.......He is teh right leader for Pakistan right now..not a perfect leader..no one is, but he is teh right person for the current times. I am glad he was not harmed because that would have created major issues and turmoil in Pakistan.

who would the molvis suggest run Pakistan? fazloo? yeah right
[/QUOTE]
i agree with you... just imagine for a moment.. if it was not him at that time .. (I mean 9/11 event), and one of these so called Molvis were in power, what they would have done? same... these people don't give a rat's ass when they are in power, they exploite innocent pakistanis in the name of religion to gain the reins of country.. thats it!!

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I think the worrying issue is the lack of a mechanism of succession in case of something happening to the leader. Democraticaly if something happens to Mush, we'd have Mian Soomro..the ex banker running the show. He has little political experience...or if it's the Army in power again there will be definite problems because Mush has prevented one single general from becoming too strong. Another problem is some of th senior most generals..right now have very strong opinions about American influence in Pakistan.

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Now I know why bomb didnt blowup at right time.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/359638.cms

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oh what a ‘credible’ news source.. i could have read the same at the tabloid in the supermarket if it covered world events :rolleyes:

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The Indian government has had the good sense to condemn the terrorist blast aimed at Preisdent Musharraf’s convoy, but you carry on posting from your “fair & balanced” sources.

India condemns attack on Musharraf](Yahoo News: Latest and Breaking News, Headlines, Live Updates, and More)

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This is worrying. This doesn’t appear to be one of the ordinary terrorist attacks in Pakistan… this one was another kind altogether, one that is much more sophisticated.

**Five bombs used in a failed attempt on the life of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf were highly sophisticated, the authorities say.
“This type of device was never used before in the country in the past,” **Information Minister Sheikh Ahmed Rashid said.

The bombs went off seconds after the president’s motorcade crossed a bridge in Rawalpindi on Sunday. Police have questioned several people over the attack, but made no arrests.

Mr Rashid said those who had planned the bomb attack were experts in their field. But he would not say where the devices might have come from, or who might have planted them.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Madhanee: *
More power to people who want to make keema out of Mushy. Jazakallah.
[/QUOTE]

I think the people you are saying "more power to" are the type of religious fanatics who have intimidated your own ahmediya community for so long.

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yeah i see the duplicity, itys kinda like someone hating the gangsta culture but a big fan of Tupac.