Bhutto's party slams proposed ban on rallies
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
ISLAMABAD, Oct 22 (AFP): Pakistan's government rejected Monday former premier Benazir Bhutto's demand for international experts to help find those behind last week's devastating suicide attack.
"We reject the demand for involvement of foreign experts in the probe. Our own law enforcement agency personnel are capable of investigating the incident," Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said.
"In the past also they have investigated attacks on presidents and prime ministers and the culprits were traced," Sherpao told reporters.
Bhutto urged Pakistan on Sunday to enlist international help, saying countries such as the United States and Britain had the technical expertise to track down those behind the blasts.
A shrapnel-packed suicide bomb ripped through a crowd of hundreds of thousands of supporters who had gathered on the streets of Karachi last Thursday to cheer Bhutto's return to Pakistan only hours earlier.
A grenade was also thrown shortly before the second more powerful blast, police have said.
Bhutto has said she received a warning prior to her return about members of the Al-Qaeda network, Pakistani and Afghan Taliban and a Karachi-based militant group who might have been planning to attack her.
Meanwhile: The party of former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto vowed Monday to defy a planned ban on political rallies in the run-up to general elections seen as a key step to restoring civilian rule here.
The government plans to ban street marches in the wake of last week's suicide bombing that ripped through Bhutto's homecoming parade in Karachi, killing 139 people.
The government says it is drawing up a code of conduct for campaigning that would ban large rallies amid fears of further deadly attacks by militants, allowing only "small corner meetings" with tight security.
"Keeping in mind the security situation and the incident in Karachi has become inevitable," deputy information minister Tariq Azeem told AFP.
"The proposal before the government is to allow small corner meetings at a specified place instead of large rallies lasting several hours and causing inconvenience to the public," he said.
But Bhutto's opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) slammed the ban as outrageous amid fears of a crackdown on campaigning.
Another report adds: Former prime minister Benazir
Bhutto Monday visited the mausoleum of Pakistan's founder, making her second public outing in as many days after a bloody suicide attack on her convoy.
Wearing a white headscarf and black tunic, Bhutto was swamped by security men and media as she arrived at Karachi's Jinnah Mausoleum-the resting place of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who led the country to independence in 1947.
"When Pakistan was formed, people sacrificed their lives, as they did in the attempt on my life last week," she told reporters at the imposing marble dome in the centre of the city.
"I have come to pay homage to the father of the nation. We believe in the power of the people," she added.
"We reject the demand for involvement of foreign experts in the probe. Our own law enforcement agency personnel are capable of investigating the incident," Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said.
"In the past also they have investigated attacks on presidents and prime ministers and the culprits were traced," Sherpao told reporters.
Bhutto urged Pakistan on Sunday to enlist international help, saying countries such as the United States and Britain had the technical expertise to track down those behind the blasts.
A shrapnel-packed suicide bomb ripped through a crowd of hundreds of thousands of supporters who had gathered on the streets of Karachi last Thursday to cheer Bhutto's return to Pakistan only hours earlier.
A grenade was also thrown shortly before the second more powerful blast, police have said.
Bhutto has said she received a warning prior to her return about members of the Al-Qaeda network, Pakistani and Afghan Taliban and a Karachi-based militant group who might have been planning to attack her.
Meanwhile: The party of former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto vowed Monday to defy a planned ban on political rallies in the run-up to general elections seen as a key step to restoring civilian rule here.
The government plans to ban street marches in the wake of last week's suicide bombing that ripped through Bhutto's homecoming parade in Karachi, killing 139 people.
The government says it is drawing up a code of conduct for campaigning that would ban large rallies amid fears of further deadly attacks by militants, allowing only "small corner meetings" with tight security.
"Keeping in mind the security situation and the incident in Karachi has become inevitable," deputy information minister Tariq Azeem told AFP.
"The proposal before the government is to allow small corner meetings at a specified place instead of large rallies lasting several hours and causing inconvenience to the public," he said.
But Bhutto's opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) slammed the ban as outrageous amid fears of a crackdown on campaigning.
Another report adds: Former prime minister Benazir
Bhutto Monday visited the mausoleum of Pakistan's founder, making her second public outing in as many days after a bloody suicide attack on her convoy.
Wearing a white headscarf and black tunic, Bhutto was swamped by security men and media as she arrived at Karachi's Jinnah Mausoleum-the resting place of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who led the country to independence in 1947.
"When Pakistan was formed, people sacrificed their lives, as they did in the attempt on my life last week," she told reporters at the imposing marble dome in the centre of the city.
"I have come to pay homage to the father of the nation. We believe in the power of the people," she added.