'I will not give in', says defiant Bhutto

She said she had been warned before her return that suicide squads had been dispatched to kill her – and she had passed the warning on to the authorities.

And she said street lights and phone lines failed just before the attack.

“There was one suicide squad from the Taliban elements, one suicide squad from al-Qaida, one suicide squad from Pakistani Taliban and a fourth – a group – I believe from Karachi,” she said.

Baitullah Mehsud, a top militant leader on the unstable Afghan border, threatened this month to meet Bhutto’s return to Pakistan with suicide attacks, according to local media reports.

An associate of Mehsud, however, denied Taliban involvement.

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.

Bhutto blamed militants for the attack.

“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.”

She did not blame the government, but said it was suspicious that streetlights failed after sunset last night when her convoy was inching its way through the streets of Karachi. She said the phones were down, making it difficult to have the lights restored.

“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.”

She said she had prior warning that suicide squads would try to kill her upon returning home.

Telephone numbers of suicide squads had been given to her by a “brotherly” country and she alerted President Musharraf in a letter dated October 16.

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 she was confident the government would take measures to prevent it.

Bhutto said the militants had “gained strength” but that the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan should not delay elections – slated for January.

Bhutto defended her decision to negotiate with Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, saying it was aimed at a transition to democracy.

“We believe democracy alone can save Pakistan from disintegration and a militant takeover,” Bhutto said.

The attack was one of the deadliest in Pakistan’s history.

Ghulam Muhammad Mohtarem, the top security official in Sindh province where Karachi is located, suggested Bhutto’s camp got carried away celebrating her return after eight years in exile, and had not taken the need for security seriously.

Bhutto, however, said she accepted the risks.

The back-to-back explosions went off near a bulletproof truck that was carrying her and top party officials through the streets of Karachi.

Just 10 hours after landing in Pakistan, her jubilant homecoming parade turned into a scene of blood and carnage, ripping victims apart and hurling a fireball into the sky.

Bhutto narrowly escaped the attack, which shattered the windows of her truck.

She said when the first bomb exploded, she was resting her feet in the middle of the bus.

President Musharraf phoned Bhutto today to express his shock and grief, and prayed for the former premier’s safety and security, his spokesman said.

“The president and Ms Bhutto both expressed their unflinching resolve to fight this scourge of extremism and terrorism. They also agreed that there was a need for the entire nation to unite in order to rid the country of this menace of suicide bombings, terrorism and extremism,” the spokesman said.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, which shed new uncertainty over Bhutto’s talks with Musharraf and possible plans for a moderate, pro-US alliance.

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

Officials at six hospitals in Karachi reported 136 dead and around 250 wounded.

Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi said that 113 people died, including 20 policemen, and that 300 people were wounded. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the different death tolls.

Police collected forensic evidence – picking up pieces of flesh and discarded shoes – from the site of the bombing. Bhutto’s truck was hoisted away using a crane. One side of the truck was splattered with blood and pocked with shrapnel holes.

On the eve of Bhutto’s arrival, a provincial government official had cited intelligence reports that three suicide bombers linked to Mehsud were in Karachi. The local government had also warned Bhutto could be targeted by Taliban or al-Qaida.

Karachi, which lies in the far south of Pakistan but has been buffeted by militant attacks in recent years, was quiet today.

Schools were closed and traffic was thin, with city residents wary of venturing out.

Unrest broke out in two districts but did not appear serious. Hundreds of Bhutto supporters hurled stones at vehicles and shops during a funeral procession for two victims, forcing police to cordon off the area.

Elsewhere, Bhutto supporters ordered shops to close and burned tyres in the road.

Bhutto had flown home yesterday to lead her Pakistan People’s Party in January parliamentary elections, drawing cheers from crowds that police put at 150,000. She has ambitions to win a third term as prime minister.

The throngs reflected Bhutto’s enduring political clout, but she has made enemies of Islamic militants by taking a pro-US line and negotiating a possible alliance with Musharraf.

It remained unclear what impact the attack could have on reconciliation efforts between the two rivals: whether it could stiffen their resolve to fight militancy together or strain already bad relations between Bhutto and the ruling party supporting Musharraf.

Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari, told Dawn News television he suspected that “elements sitting within the government” who would lose out if Bhutto returned to power were involved in the attack.

In the past, Bhutto has accused conservatives in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q party and the security services of supporting religious extremists.

Bhutto had paved her route back to Pakistan through negotiations with Musharraf, a long-time political rival despite their shared liberal values. Their talks yielded an amnesty covering the corruption charges that made Bhutto leave Pakistan.

Musharraf won re-election to the presidency in a controversial vote this month by lawmakers that is being challenged in the Supreme Court.

If he is confirmed for a new five-year presidential term, Musharraf has promised to quit the military and restore civilian rule.