Islamabad - Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto
has received threats of new suicide attacks from Islamic militants,
days after two bomb attacks on her procession left 140 people dead,
her lawyer said Tuesday.
'We have received a letter saying that Benazir Bhutto could be
attacked while travelling or at her home,' Farooq Naik told Deutsche
Presse-Agentur dpa.
'The letters say that even a female suicide bomber could target
her,' he said, adding that Bhutto's party was going to take further
measures to heighten her security.
He said he suspected the warning had come from al-Qaeda-linked
militant groups.
Two explosions ripped through a procession that Bhutto was leading
on Thursday, hours after arriving from Dubai to end an eight-year
self-imposed exile. More than 500 people were injured in the assault.
Initially, Bhutto said it was an action by Islamic militants and
their sympathizers within the government of President General Pervez
Musharraf and demanded an independent inquiry led by foreign
investigators.
The militants, especially those in tribal areas bordering
Afghanistan, are disturbed by Bhutto's recent power-sharing deal with
Musharraf.
Under the agreement both aim at forming a liberal alliance against
the country's extremist and fundamentalist forces.
The United States and Britain have encouraged it, believing the
support from the most popular political leader would enhance the
efforts of Musharraf, a key US ally, in what it calls it's war on
terrorism.
They also hope the coalition will help contain Taliban and
al-Qaeda fighters in tribal region from launching assaults on
international forces in Afghanistan.
However, Bhutto simultaneously named her political rival and Chief
Minister of Punjab province Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, and the head of
country's Intelligence Bureau, all three very close to President
General Pervez Musharraf, as the ringleaders of the attackers.
This prompted a war of words between Bhutto and the ruling party,
which accused her of staging the attack herself for political gains.
There have also been multiple, confusing accounts of the nature of
the blasts. Initially, the government said the first blast occurred
when a suicide bomber threw a hand grenade to break into the security
cordon around Bhutto's bullet-proof truck before he blew himself up
near it.
Later on, the investigators said both were suicide bombings,
carried out by two bombers.
Meanwhile, Bhutto's lawyer claimed that the government had placed
her name on the Exit Control List to prevent her from leaving the
country.
The government action is in violation of the constitution that
grants every citizen freedom of movement, Naik said, adding that he
had called upon the Interior Ministry to remove the restriction.
The ministry's spokesman was not available to comment, but a high
official said on condition of anonymity that the ban was imposed
because there were several cases of corruption of almost 1.5 billion
dollars pending in the country's courts against the opposition leader.
Under the deal with Musharraf, Bhutto was granted amnesty on the
corruption charges but the agreement remains in limbo as the measure
has been challenged in the Supreme Court.
Musharraf's own fate remains in the hands of the top court, which
is presently hearing several challenges to his eligibility to run
October 6 presidential election that he won by majority vote in the
parliament.
The court has directed the election results to be withheld until
the final verdict.
The petitioners argue that a bar on public servants from
contesting election makes Musharraf ineligible for the vote.
'The election is flawed as no serving army officer is permitted to
participate in politics. Musharraf is liable to be tried under high
treason for filing his nomination papers,' Etzaz Ahsan, a defence
counsel for the rival candidate, told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The court is expected to decide on the petitions at the end of
next week.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
Your Talkback on this Story