Who's responsible for 18th Oct Bomb Blasts in Karachi - Govt, PPP, Jihadis!? (merged)

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
1

Given what happened on May 12th anything things is possible in Pakistan. However, I for one, have hard time believing that govt would do something like this.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071020.pakistan-conspiracy20/EmailBNStory/International/home

Musharraf or ISI? Taliban or al-Qaeda? Conspiracy theories run rampant

SAEED SHAH

Special to The Globe and Mail

October 20, 2007 at 1:19 AM EDT

KARACHI, PAKISTAN — Pakistan is a country of conspiracy theorists and Thursday’s devastating attack on Benazir Bhutto’s convoy has sent wild rumour and speculation into hyper-drive.

Many ordinary Pakistanis sincerely believe that the government of General Pervez Musharraf was behind the outrage, reasoning that it was an attempt to stop a coming election that Ms. Bhutto is expected to win.

That theory usually carries with it suspicion of another player, the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, an agency with a dark history, habitually accused of terrorism in Pakistan.

It was the ISI that brought jihadi groups together to fight the Soviet Union in neighbouring Afghanistan in the 1980s, and it is this agency that is generally thought to be behind the creation of the original Taliban, a movement of radical students in Afghanistan who seized power in the 1990s. Many believe that the ISI and other Pakistani intelligence agencies kept up their connections with and possibly their support for radical Islamic groups even after 9/11.

Few independent analysts believe that high-ranking state officials were involved in Thursday’s bombing, but they do think that low-ranking renegade workers in the intelligence agencies may have helped the attackers. At lower levels, the agencies contain operatives with radical Islamist thinking.

One of the chief suspects in the bombing of Ms. Bhutto’s convoy, a Pakistani Taliban commander, quickly ruled himself out Friday.

“I had nothing to do with it,” said Baitullah Mehsud, who operates in Waziristan, a lawless area within Pakistan’s tribal belt.

Mr. Mehsud had reportedly threatened to send suicide bombers to “greet” Ms. Bhutto. He is leader of the Pakistan’s Taliban, a loose group modelled on the Afghan group.

Whether or not Mr. Mehsud was involved, suspicion points to his fellow Taliban or al-Qaeda operatives – the two are largely indistinguishable now – who operate freely in the tribal region and have personnel all over Pakistan. Karachi is a particular hot spot for militants, who can easily hide amid its sprawling slum districts.

Ms. Bhutto, as a female, secular, pro-Western politician who had closely allied herself with Washington’s war on terrorism, represents everything extreme Islamists hate.

But they are not the only violent opponents of Ms. Bhutto. Karachi is the base for an ethnic movement and political party, the MQM, which was in open warfare with Ms. Bhutto’s government in the 1990s. More recently, the MQM was blamed for an attack on a demonstration in Karachi in May, where indiscriminate gunfire killed 50 people.

A former director of the ISI, Hameed Gul, said: “It is the MQM who believe that Karachi is their city. Benazir made a big mistake by gathering so many people there.”

However, the MQM has never been involved in a terrorist attack on the scale seen Thursday. And the party had recently made efforts to settle its differences with Ms. Bhutto, leading to talk that the Pakistan People’s Party and the MQM may be able to form a coalition after the planned general elections.

2

Who is responsible of 18th Oct Bomb Blast in Karachi?

Looks like this is pre planned between Benazir and Govt, so they can limit the political activities and not let Nawaz Sharif comes to pakistan and mess up there government and future plans

i think its PPP and GOVT both resposible for attack,,

What do u think?????????????????????

3

Re: Most people believe that govt was involved in Karachi attack.

yes, it shows so clearly,,,,,, why the street lights was off????????????????

where the hell was 100 guards around????

why benazir went inside just exactly on that time???

where is injury marks on Amin Fahim?

Where is injury and burned marks on Raja Pervez Ashraf

??????????????????????????????????????

big question mark is there

4

Re: Most people believe that govt was involved in Karachi attack.

Police question 3 people over deadly bombing in Pakistan](http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=7240992&nav=menu193_2)

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) - Police in Pakistan have questioned three people over the deadly bombing of Benazir Bhutto’s caravan.
A senior investigator says the men are linked to a vehicle that police believe was used by 1 of the attackers who threw a grenade at the convoy late Thursday.
The grenade caused Bhutto’s campaign bus to come to a halt, and seconds later, a suicide bomber blew himself up with a shrapnel-filled explosive. At least 136 people were killed in the attack.
The senior investigator says police believed the men, who have yet to be charged, hold crucial clues on the bombing.
Pakistan’s government has denied involvement in the attack.

5

Re: Most people believe that govt was involved in Karachi attack.

Bhutto defiant as bombing suspects held by police](The Observer archive | The Guardian)

The terror outrage could strengthen ties between Benazir and General Pervez Musharraf, reports Declan Walsh in Karachi

Even her supporters call it ‘blind faith’. In a Karachi mortuary last week it was a faith articulated by Rustam, a poor Sindhi farmer, who choked back tears as he searched for the body of his slain brother. ‘If we have to, I will sacrifice 10 more brothers,’ he said.Last week the growing political cult of Benazir Bhutto was cemented in the most terrible way, amid bomb blasts and bloodshed, during a rapturous return to Pakistan, the country from which she was exiled. Suddenly a persecution which seemed soft and unshaped during her years of exile has been given a hard edge by events.

‘What I really need to ask myself,’ Bhutto told the BBC in the wake of the explosion which killed 138 of her supporters, ‘is, do I give up, do I let the militants determine the agenda?’ She has decided to fight the parliamentary elections due in mid-January.It is a long way from the Benazir Bhutto in exile in Dubai. It was 2005, six years after she fled Pakistan, clouded by corruption charges. She was stranded in the desert metropolis in a large suburban house decorated with Arabic furniture and European paintings. Life was bearable, she said. She spent time with her teenage children. She travelled to Europe and the United States to give talks. She was kept busy holding her Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) together by email and phone.
‘I’m being persecuted because I stand for democracy,’ she sighed then. ‘We want internal change to come peacefully and politically. I don’t think that is always appreciated by General [Pervez] Musharraf.’ She wanted to come home.
Last week Bhutto touched down at Karachi airport on a commercial flight from Dubai, surrounded by ballyhooing supporters and a frenzied media. Ten hours later a spectacular suicide fireball nearly wiped out her party leadership and plunged the fragile nation into a fresh crisis.
Out of that fireball a defiant new Bhutto was born. She has put on ice plans to go to Larkana, a town 150 miles north-east of Karachi, to pray at the tomb of her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s first popularly elected Prime Minister, who was executed after a military coup three decades ago.
Late yesterday police announced they had arrested three people in connection with a vehicle from which a grenade was thrown at Bhutto’s convoy just before the suicide bombing. The men were picked up in southern Punjab, a hotbed of Islamist militancy. Police released a photograph of the severed head of the suspected bomber - an unshaven man in his 20s with curly hair and green eyes - and scanned a database of national identity cards for clues. Newspapers warned of dark days ahead. If anyone doubted the danger posed by religious extremists, an editorial in The News declared, ‘then perhaps their eyes will open now.’
Last week’s carnage dramatically opens a new chapter in the extraordinary career of Pakistan’s greatest political survivor. Thirty years ago Bhutto, a 24-year-old university graduate, was thrust into the fray after her father was overthrown by a power-hungry military general, Zia ul-Haq. Two years later her father was hanged and Benazir spent another four in detention or jail. She suffered from dysentery, malaria, boils and sores during a stay in baking-hot Sukkur jail, according to her memoirs, Daughter of the East. When her hair started to fall out, she dreamed of eating steak and mushrooms in Oxford or peppermint-stick ice-cream from America.
Now Bhutto is pressing for a third term as Prime Minister, most likely through a deal with another khaki-clad ruler, Musharraf. America and Britain are quietly egging them on.
If the triumphant procession through Karachi demonstrated one thing, it is that the Bhutto political magic has not been extinguished. Ecstatic supporters clogged the streets and hung from trees to get a glimpse of their newly returned leader - a stark contrast with the rent-a-crowd rallies for Musharraf, where dour-faced supporters are excited only by the prospect of a free meal.
As the throng pressed against her truck-mounted platform - emblazoned with pictures of herself and her father - dozens of young followers wearing white T-shirts formed a human chain around the vehicle, vigorously shoving the crowd from their path. A bulletproof platform had been erected on the roof. But Bhutto ignored it, squeezing between party bigwigs at the front of the platform.
‘This is the moderate middle that doesn’t want extremism,’ she told The Observer, gesturing to the heaving throng. 'They want peace so there can be security and the government can address issues like education and employment.
‘The militants have risen in power. But I know who these people are, I know the forces behind them, and I have written to General Musharraf about this.’
The attack came around midnight, ripping limbs from bodies and flinging charred bodies across the road. Bhutto missed it because she had gone downstairs 10 minutes earlier, complaining of swollen feet. Pictures taken as she emerged, with security guards frantically pushing her into a bulletproof police van, show her eyes glinting with fear. ‘There was blood and gore all over our clothes and the streets were littered with dead bodies,’ she said. The brunt of the blast was borne by a police van and her security guards. At least 50 were killed ‘We owe our lives to those boys,’ she said.
A deal with President Musharraf now looks more likely. She brings popularity. He provides a known quantity within the military that Bhutto feels she can deal with.
But sinister forces may have other ideas. A Taliban commander who had threatened to kill her denies any involvement, but someone is out to get her. The next stop for Bhutto is to address the faithful in her hometown, Larkana. A peaceful meeting will give her the confidence she needs to continue to Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous and politically significant province. But if the bombers strike again, the days of traditional politics in Pakistan may well be over.

Pakistan: the key questions

Who tried to killed Benazir Bhutto?

The finger of blame has been pointed at various people by Bhutto, her husband Asif Ali Zardari and supporters. What is clear is that before her return two militant leaders - accusing her of being a ‘slave of the US’ - had threatened to kill her. Her husband blames those associated with the Musharraf government, while Bhutto has suggested associates of former president General Zia-ul-Haq, who hanged her father, were involved.

What are the long-term implications?

The most important is that state institutions, such as the army and intelligence services - whether they were involved or not - are unaccountable, underlining the fragility of the political system. It also emphasises the problems Pakistan has with Islamist militants, which it has failed to control.

What does it mean for Bhutto?

Despite the attack, her return showed she was the most popular Pakistani politician. The attack might further cement her position and further polarise politics. Or it might throw Musharraf and Bhutto together in the fight against extremism.

6

Re: Most people believe that govt was involved in Karachi attack.

Oh please! Practice what you preach. She is dictator of her own party. How she going to bring democracy o Pakistan when she doesn’t believe in democracy within her own party?

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gz6qrzjXHaZdKL4Y80Xv1JQwRk8Q

Bhutto must take responsibility for blast deaths: niece

2 hours ago

KARACHI (AFP) — Benazir Bhutto bears the responsibility for the deaths of 139 people in an attack on her homecoming parade by exposing them to danger for the sake of her own “personal theatre”, her estranged niece said.

Newspaper columnist and poet Fatima Bhutto, the granddaughter of late Pakistani premier Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, also told AFP in an interview that her aunt’s return from exile would plunge the country further into turmoil.

“She insisted on this grand show, she bears a responsibility for these deaths and for these injuries,” the 25-year-old said at her plush family home in Karachi two days after the bombings.

Fatima Bhutto is the daughter of former prime minister Benazir’s late brother Murtaza, who was killed by police in Karachi in 1996 amid murky circumstances that led to the collapse of her second term in government.

Murtaza led a left-wing extremist group after military ruler Zia-ul-Haq executed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1979 and then fell out with his sister over what he felt was her betrayal of their father’s political legacy.

Murtaza’s daughter, often heralded in the Pakistani media as an inheritor of the dynasty’s heavy crown and bears a family resemblance to Benazir Bhutto, has recently launched a series of salvos against her aunt.

In the latest Fatima Bhutto accused the opposition leader of protecting herself on her return to Pakistan with an armoured truck, while bussing in hundreds of thousands of supporters despite warnings of an attack.

“They died for this personal theatre of hers, they died for this personal show,” she said.

The suicide and grenade blast happened hours after Benazir Bhutto, a two-time premier, flew to Karachi from Dubai. She has blamed Islamic extremists, possibly with links to rogue or former intelligence agents, for the attack.

Her Pakistan People’s Party dismissed “senseless accusations” that the 54-year-old was responsible for the deaths, saying it was the government’s job to protect its citizens.

“Those who have died, their families are proud of them. The attack was against Benazir Bhutto. All those including ourselves who went there took the risk knowingly,” senior party leader Taj Haider said.

Speaking in a sitting room decked with oil paintings of her grandfather, father and other family members – although not her aunt – Fatima Bhutto also said her aunt was not the enemy of militancy that she claims to be.

Benazir Bhutto’s return to Pakistan was heavily backed by the United States, which sees the Islamic world’s first female premier as a potential partner for President Pervez Musharraf, a key US ally in the “war on terror”.

“She talks about extremism and nobody else points out that the Taliban was created under her last government,” Fatima Bhutto said, referring to the hardline Taliban regime that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001.

Fatima, educated like her aunt at universities in the United States and Britain, meanwhile condemned the amnesty on corruption charges given to Benazir Bhutto by Musharraf that enabled her to return to the country.

“What this (amnesty) means for this country is very, very frightening,” she said.

The younger Bhutto, whose house in the city’s seaside Clifton neighbourhood is next door to her grandfather’s home, said however that she was not likely to enter Pakistan’s turbulent politics any time soon.

She said her newspaper column, which often focuses on political and rights issues, was itself a “political act.”

“But as for running for elections, just because I have this last name, I don’t think I am entitled to it. I don’t think it is a birthright,” she said.

“I can’t rule anything out for the future, but I think there are a lot of other ways to be political and right now I am choosing this way.”

Chat Hall of Fame
7

Re: Who's responsible for 18th Oct Bomb Blasts in Karachi - Govt, PPP, Jihadis!? (mer

Well, she stated yesterday that she had written to the President that if she is assassinated three people in gov circles should be held responsible. Now that she has survived but 140 odd have died, she has not launched complaint against those three.
Why? Are those 140 meaningless.

Last person to answer this post wins!!!!
8

Re: Who's responsible for 18th Oct Bomb Blasts in Karachi - Govt, PPP, Jihadis!? (mer

It appears as such.

9

Re: Who's responsible for 18th Oct Bomb Blasts in Karachi - Govt, PPP, Jihadis!? (mer

BB of course...Period!

PS: The world is mine! [Scarface]

10

Re: Who’s responsible for 18th Oct Bomb Blasts in Karachi - Govt, PPP, Jihadis!? (mer

She may have written letter, but before that President had warned her about it, but she refused… now whinnying for a letter after rejecting the request of the same person… ironic ehh…

PS: I see lights were on, in the video in the pictures, which lights she is talking about ? :s

11

Re: Who's responsible for 18th Oct Bomb Blasts in Karachi - Govt, PPP, Jihadis!? (mer

Yep, quite true.

  • Benazir was warned repeatedly by the government to delay her return.
  • She admitted before her return that suicide bomber squads would target her.
  • The government offered to transport her by helicopter from the airport to Quaid's Mazar.
  • The Sindh authorities had advised the PPP to hold their welcome rally in one of Karachi's big parks instead.
  • The govt assigned a massive 20,000 police force and rangers to guard her procession.

She chose to ignore the advises and warnings by the govt and local authorities, and put her EGO before the people. This woman has proved she has absolutely no regard for innocent people's lives, and does not care if they get killed, as long as she stays in her BULLET-PROOF truck and get's a big welcoming crowd.

12

Re: Who’s responsible for 18th Oct Bomb Blasts in Karachi - Govt, PPP, Jihadis!? (mer

As I already said it is not the work of Jehdis, this is the work of third class Pakis who hate PPP and its leader to the extreme. Some one wanted BB not to gather crowds to show her people power inspite of corruption charges, as she can beat any political gatherings sponsored by other lota parties. Taliban has some code of ethics and this kind of action would not help them in their cause at all.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/22/welcome.htm

Afghan Taliban deny link to attack on Benazir SPIN BOLDAK, Oct 22 (Reuters): Afghanistan’s Taliban do not attack outside Afghanistan and are not involved in an attack on former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi last week, an Afghan Taliban commander said on Monday. Mullah Hayatullah Khan, a commander said, “the Afghan Taliban are not involved in any attacks in foreign countries,” by telephone from an undisclosed location. “I want to tell you, we are not involved in the attack on Benazir Bhutto’s convoy,” he said. He said there would be no let-up in their attacks through the winter, when fighting traditionally eases off because snow blocks mountain passes and ruled out peace talks with the Afghan government while foreign troops remained in the country. (Posted @ 16:10 PST)

13

Re: Who's responsible for 18th Oct Bomb Blasts in Karachi - Govt, PPP, Jihadis!? (mer

^ You dont need to look very far, there is a terrorist party which resides in the heart of Karachi, and they dont like it if someone organizes rallies in the city they think is their pyoo ki jagir.

14

Re: Who's responsible for 18th Oct Bomb Blasts in Karachi - Govt, PPP, Jihadis!? (mer

100% agreed. That party is sacred cow, untouchables for the time being.

15

Re: Who's responsible for 18th Oct Bomb Blasts in Karachi - Govt, PPP, Jihadis!? (mer

My belief is just growing stronger that Bibi is hand in hand behind the scene with militants.. how can she not ask for 'favors' from those who she feeded in past.

16

Re: Who's responsible for 18th Oct Bomb Blasts in Karachi - Govt, PPP, Jihadis!? (mer

I think four parties may be invovled in all these:

  1. Religious fanatics to revenge Lal Masjid events.
  2. The governemnt i.e. the federal governement.
  3. MQM to take revenge of its workers during PPP rule.
  4. The PPP itself to get sympathy of people when it was declining on popularity.
  5. India to destabilize Pakistan.
17

Re: Who's responsible for 18th Oct Bomb Blasts in Karachi - Govt, PPP, Jihadis!? (mer

lol according to Chaudhry Shujaat the PPP did this to itself! He was on Hamid Mir's Capital Talk

18

Re: Who's responsible for 18th Oct Bomb Blasts in Karachi - Govt, PPP, Jihadis!? (mer

Brother think!

I am assuming that you love Pakistan as much as any person loves his country, his political party, or money. Now ask yourself that if anyone (or government of Pakistan) ask you to do suicide (become suicide bomber) for Pakistan, (or political party you belong or money), than would you?

If you think that you would never than be assured that this is what most people reaction would be, that is they would never do suicide for country, political party or money. [They may fight and may die for country, political party or even for money, but would never do suicide].

Now assume that you are committed religious person (your belief is right or wrong does not matter) and someone you trust in religion convince you that if you would do suicide (become suicide bomber) you will be doing work of Allah, and that as reward from Allah for fulfilling duty towards Allah, you will straight away go to heaven. You start believing on that and that become your objective. Now you are asked to do suicide for Allah (with belief that what you are doing is correct) than would you do that?

If your answer is you might (most likely you will) than be assured ‘WHO’ could have done such suicide.

19

Re: Who's responsible for 18th Oct Bomb Blasts in Karachi - Govt, PPP, Jihadis!? (mer

Brother they have to prove it was a suicide attack, if it is such an attack, then only religious fanatics can do this. Otherwise, these can be possible stakeholders in this affair.

20

Re: Who's responsible for 18th Oct Bomb Blasts in Karachi - Govt, PPP, Jihadis!? (mer

It can be.