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Rediff.com  » News » Twin blasts: Pak government faces the heat

Twin blasts: Pak government faces the heat

October 20, 2007 13:02 IST
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Expressing shock and grief over Thursday's blasts in former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's procession, Pakistan opposition parties have blamed the government for security lapses.

Most Opposition leaders backed Bhutto's allegations on the role of intelligence agencies in the attack and said there were elements sympathetic to extremists, Daily Times reported.

Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal's president Qazi Husain Ahmad said the attack on the procession was aimed at warning political parties against pursuing the goal of democracy.

Expressing condolences over the deaths of PPP workers and policemen, he announced that his party will observe three-day mourning to express solidarity with the PPP.

MMA's secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the government had failed to protect the lives of innocent people and called for a judicial probe.

Pakistan Tehrik-i-Istiqlal President Asghar Khan said the attack was the culmination of continued military rule that promoted terrorism to safeguard its vested interests, the newspaper reported.

Blaming government's pro-US policies, Party chairperson
Imran Khan said the government had found support of certain other parties, including the PPP. Government's wrong policies had only helped increase the radicalisation and growth of militancy, he said.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan government has asked Bhutto to disclose the names of the suspects she had mentioned during her press conference, if she has proof of their involvement in Thursday's blasts.

Bhutto had, while addressing a press conference on Friday, said, 'I have written a letter to the Pakistan President in which I have nominated three persons in case I am assassinated near my homes in Karachi and Larkana.' She, however, did not mention their names.

'We don't know who the three people are, if she has some information about them, she should disclose it in public,' Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said.

'The government had advised the PPP leadership not to prolong the procession because of security threats.' All possible arrangements to ensure the security during the rally were made in coordination with the PPP leadership, including the provision of a jammer.

He, however, said the jammer was useful only when the act is carried through remote control.
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