A triumphant return ends in horror

8220;We were already fearing a strike from Mehsud and his local affiliates and this was conveyed to the Bhutto8217;s Pakistan8217;s People8217;s Party but they got carried away by political exigencies instead of taking our concern seriously,8221; Mohtarem said.

Bhutto survived unscathed, but the back-to-back explosions that went off near a bullet-proof truck in which she was riding turned her jubilant homecoming parade through the city streets into a scene of blood and carnage, ripping victims apart and hurling a fireball into the sky. The attack shattered the windows of her truck. She appeared dazed afterward and was escorted to her Karachi home.

Bhutto8217;s procession had been creeping toward the centre of Karachi for 10 hours, as supporters thronged her truck, when a small explosion erupted near the front of the vehicle. That was quickly followed by a larger blast, destroying two escorting police vans.

Manzur Mughal, the Karachi police officer in charge of the investigation said detectives had established that the same young man who threw the grenade blew himself up 22 seconds later next to the truck. The attacker8217;s head was found nearby and taken to a forensic lab to try to identify him, said Mughal.

President Pervez Musharraf phoned Bhutto on Friday to express his shock and profound grief over the bombing and prayed for the former premier8217;s safety and security, his spokesman said. 8220;The President and Ms. Bhutto both expressed their unflinching resolve to fight this scourge of extremism and terrorism. They also agreed that there was a need for the entire nation to unite in order to rid the country of this menace of suicide bombings, terrorism and extremism,8221; said the official.

Musharraf resolved to 8220;bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice.8221;

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, which shed new uncertainty over Bhutto8217;s talks with Musharraf and possible plans for a moderate, pro-US alliance. Mohtarem said nuts and bolts and steel balls packed around the explosives had made the bombing so deadly. He said it was impossible to prevent more such attacks.

Officials at six hospitals in Karachi reported 136 dead and around 250 wounded. Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi said that 113 people died, including 20 policemen, and that 300 people were wounded. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the differing death tolls.

Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said authorities had done everything possible to protect the huge gathering of Bhutto supporters marking her return, but noted that electronic jammers fitted to the police escort vehicles were ineffective against a manually detonated bomb.

On the eve of Bhutto8217;s arrival, a provincial government official had cited intelligence reports that three suicide bombers linked to Mehsud were in Karachi. The local government had also warned Bhutto could be targeted by Taliban or al-Qaeda.

Earlier this month, local media reports quoted Mehsud 8212; probably the most prominent leader of Islamic militants destabilising its northwestern border regions near Afghanistan 8212; as vowing to greet Bhutto8217;s return to Pakistan with suicide attacks. Mehsud8217;s spokesman could not be reached for comment, but an alleged associate of the militant commander, Isa Khan, denied Taliban involvement.

8220;The government8217;s secret agencies are involved in it. Taliban has no part in it,8221; said Khan. 8220;This was an effort to provoke common people and create hatred against the Taliban. We do not do anything that harm common people.8221;