Bombings kill more than 100, Bhutto safe
Blasts in Karachi, Pakistan, set off near the homecoming motorcade of Benazir Bhutto, reportedly killed about 120 but the former prime minister escaped.
A CNN report Friday, quoting hospital and police sources, said at least 124 people were killed and about 320 injured in the Thursday blasts in the port city -- the hometown of Bhutto -- where a large crowd had gathered to greet their former leader who earlier returned to the country after eight years of exile.
The BBC, which put the death toll at more than 120, reported Friday the windows of the truck in which she was traveling were shattered and one of its doors was blown off.
There had been threats against Bhutto by militant Islamist groups, reportedly in response to Bhutto's statement that she would deal with those spreading violence in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, with whom Bhutto’s party is discussing a power-sharing deal, called the bombings a “conspiracy against democracy,” the BBC report said.
Bhutto is expected to contest in the general elections set for January. A White House spokesman said extremists will not be allowed to stop Pakistanis from selecting their representatives through open elections.
The CNN report said there were conflicting reports as to whether there were two blasts or just one. // Copyright 2007 by United Press International
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