Qaeda-Linked Warlord Is Eyed in Bhutto Atack

KARACHI, Pakistan — A former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, her return from exile shattered by a suicide attack that killed up to 136 people, blamed militants today for trying to kill her and said she would not "surrender our great nation" to them.

Ms. Bhutto said there were two attackers in the deadly bombing, and that her security guards found a third man armed with a pistol and another with a suicide vest. Ahead of her arrival, she said, she was warned suicide squads were dispatched to kill her.

"There was one suicide squad from the Taliban elements, one suicide squad from Al Qaeda, one suicide squad from Pakistani Taliban and a fourth — a group — I believe from Karachi," she said.

A top militant leader on the unstable Afghan border, Baitullah Mehsud, threatened this month to meet Ms. Bhutto's return to Pakistan with suicide attacks, according to local media reports. An associate of Mr. Mehsud, however, denied Taliban involvement.

Ms. Bhutto said her guards prevented more carnage.

"They stood their ground, and they stood all around the truck, and they refused to let the suicide bomber — the second suicide bomber — get near the truck," she said.

Ms. Bhutto blamed militants for the attack, which drew international condemnation.

"We believe democracy alone can save Pakistan from disintegration and a militant takeover," she told a news conference. "We are prepared to risk our lives and we are prepared to risk our liberty, but we are not prepared to surrender our great nation to the militants."

Ms. Bhutto's procession crept toward the center of Karachi for 10 hours with supporters thronging her armored truck when a small explosion erupted near the front of the vehicle. That was quickly followed by a larger blast, destroying two police vans escorting the procession. Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said the vehicles on the left side of Ms. Bhutto's truck suffered the brunt of the blast, one of the deadliest in Pakistan's history.

Ms. Bhutto did not blame the government, but said it was suspicious that streetlights failed after sunset yesterday when her convoy was inching its way through the streets of Karachi. She said attempts to reach the national security adviser to have the lights restored were unsuccessful — phone lines were also apparently down.

"I'm not accusing the government but certain individuals who abuse their positions and powers," she said. "We were scanning the crowd with the floodlights, but it was difficult to scan the crowds because there was so much darkness."

The top security official in the province where the attack took place suggested that Ms. Bhutto's camp had not seriously considered the need for security for her return after eight years in exile.

"They got carried away by political exigencies instead of taking our concern seriously," said the official, Ghulam Muhammad Mohtarem.

Ms. Bhutto claimed the next attack against her would target her homes in Karachi and her hometown of Larkana, using attackers posing as supporters of a rival political faction. She said militants had "gained strength" but the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan should not delay elections slated for January.

"We have to do the best that we can to restore democracy ... so people can stand up as the guardians of their society."

Police today collected forensic evidence including pieces of flesh and shoes from the site of the bombing. Ms. Bhutto's armored truck, which carried signs that read "Long Live Bhutto," was hoisted away using a crane. One side bearing a big portrait of the former premier was spattered with blood and riddled with shrapnel holes.

The Karachi police officer in charge of the investigation, Manzur Mughal, said the attacker's head was found nearby and taken to a forensic lab to try to identify him.

Ms. Bhutto survived unscathed, but the explosions that went off near the bulletproof truck she was riding in turned her jubilant homecoming parade into a scene of 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.

President Musharraf phoned Ms. Bhutto today to express his shock and profound grief over the bombing and prayed for the former premier's safety and security, his spokesman said.

"The president expressed his strong resolve that a thorough investigation would be carried out in order to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice," the spokesman, Rashid Qureshi, said.

Mr. Mohtarem said nuts, bolts, and steel balls packed around the explosives had made the bombing so deadly. He said it was impossible to prevent more such attacks.

Mr. Mehsud's spokesman could not be reached for comment, but an alleged associate of the militant commander, Isa Khan, denied Taliban involvement.

"The government's secret agencies are involved in it. Taliban have no part in it," Mr. Khan said by phone from the volatile northwestern tribal town of Bannu, where he is believed to command pro-Taliban militants loyal to Mr. Mehsud.

"This was an effort to provoke common people and create hatred against the Taliban. We do not do anything that harm common people," he said.