Musharraf survives bid on his life

‘‘The President’s motorcade passed a minute before the blast,’’ military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan said. ‘‘He is safe and sound… It is a terrorist act.’’

A senior Interior ministry official later added: ‘‘Naturally it was aimed at him because it went off shortly after his motorcade passed.’’

Musharraf had just returned from Karachi, and the explosion occurred 2 km from Islamabad International Airport near neighbouring Rawalpindi, where the military has its headquarters.

No one has yet claimed responsibility, but Musharraf incensed Pakistani Islamic militant groups by ditching support for the Taliban and siding with the US-declared war on terrorism after 9/11.

‘‘As the President’s motorcade passed, a huge explosion blew up the bridge,’’ said Sheharyar Khan, whose car was caught in a roadblock set up immediately after the blast.

Police cordoned off the area, and were securing and searching the site along with soldiers. A Reuters photographer said he could see a large crater in the road.

The blast came on the same day that Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri arrived in Pakistan on a three-day visit during which she is expected to sign an anti-terrorism pact.

A Karachi court convicted three Islamic militants in October for carrying out a failed assassination attempt on Musharraf last year, handing down 10-year jail terms to each of them.

The militants belonged to the al-Almi faction of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, a group that is also blamed for masterminding a suicide attack outside the US consulate in Karachi the same year in which 12 Pakistanis died.

Last month, Musharraf outlawed six militant groups after US complaints that they had re-emerged under new names following a previous ban.. Western diplomats, political commentators and businessmen agree that Pakistan would be left in a vulnerable position were Musharraf to be removed from power. ‘‘The main worry I have about Pakistan is that there is no one who can take his place,’’ a leading businessman in Karachi said earlier this week.(Reuters)