Bhutto escaped shaken, but unharmed. It came shortly after an emotional Bhutto told BosNewsLife in an exclusive interview that she wanted to work for reconciliation in Pakistan. "I come back to my homeland with a pledge to create a house open for everyone. In which all people can have bread and clothing," she said, shortly after landing at Karachi International Airport.
"These have been the prayers of my party workers and Pakistanis across the country. I am so happy to be back home to carry out an agenda of loving Pakistan," she told BosNewsLife. A BosNewsLife reporter saw how her daughters Sanam Bhutto and Laila Bhutto and other Pakistan People’s Party leaders accompanied her on what they hoped would be a journey to celebrate her homecoming outside the airport in Karachi.
Bhutto, waving to an estimated one-million strong crowd knew the risks. Instead of using a standard bullet proof car, she wanted to use a bus especially built to take her to the Jinnah’s Tomb, where supporters gathered, BosNewsLife. learned. Just minutes before Thursday’s devastating blast Bhutto could be seen standing on top deck of the bus along with other party leaders. She also wanted to reach out to Pakistan’s embattled Christian minority, where leaders have complained about persecution, including attacks against churches and death threats my Muslim militants in several areas.
MUSLIM MILITANTS
Muslim militants have accused Christians of supporting the United States-led war on terror as well as spreading a "Western religion." On Thursday, October 18, Bhutto’s bus was however decorated with flags of not only her Pakistan People’s Party, but also of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance APMA, a leading political and advocacy grouping of Pakistani Christians.
Yet, soon the flags disappeared and streets were covered with blood, as two bombs rocked the motorcade. A BosNewsLife reporter watched what appeared to be a huge fire ball near Bhutto’s vehicle. There were horrific scenes with people crying for help and children reportedly among the dead. Islamist groups, including pro-Taliban militants, had warned they would attack Bhutto on her return, after she promised to confront those operating in the northern tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
As the former prime minister was whisked away, Victoria Schofield, a friend of Bhutto who was also on the bus, told reporters that the former prime minister had been standing on top of the bus for six hours, but had just gone downstairs to work on a speech when the first explosion went off. "We were sitting up on the top and suddenly there was this absolute flash of light and a blast," she said.
HOT AIR
"I felt lots of really hot air coming and we all – there were about 15 of us on the top of the bus – we all literally went to the ground." Yet, the blasts came somewhat as a surprise as an estimated 20,000 security forces were on hand to protect the airport, Bhutto’s motorcade and nearby areas. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, was quick to accuse government and intelligence agencies of involvement in the attack for fear of losing power.
Bhutto wants to contest parliamentary elections due to be held in January and she has been negotiating with President Pervez Musharraf over a possible power-sharing agreement. The United States has made clear it supports such a deal, amid reported concerns about the military’s inability to defeat Islamist militants and General Musharraf’s rising unpopularity. In a statement Musharraf’s condemned the attack however, saying it was an "attack on democracy."
However as night fell over Karachi, it became increasingly clear that a new political dawn seems still far away, in Pakistan. (Read more from Jawas Mazhar on the Web via www.raysofdevelopment.org).
