The Hindu : Front Page : 25 killed in Rawalpindi blasts

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Wednesday, Sep 05, 2007
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25 killed in Rawalpindi blasts

Nirupama Subramanian

68 injured as bombs explode close to top-security military sites

— PHOTO: AFP

Handiwork of terror: Security officials examine what remains of a bus that was destroyed in a terrorist attack in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.

Islamabad: Pakistan’s pre-election political uncertainty intensified on Tuesday as two bombs shattered the peace of Rawalpindi, the cantonment city twinned with the national capital, killing 25 persons and leaving 68 injured.

The bombs went off less than a week before the announced return of the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to the country to lead a battle for the ouster of President Pervez Musharraf, and hours before the General’s emissaries met Pakistan Peoples Party leader Benazir Bhutto in Dubai for one more round of negotiations aimed at reaching an agreement to save his proposed re-election bid.

The bombs exploded close to the Army’s General Headquarters and other top-security military sites a little before 7.30 a.m.

Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said it was not yet clear whether the blasts were suicide attacks but the possibility could not be ruled out. He said a possible link, if any, between the two incidents was being investigated.

One attack targeted a Defence Ministry bus as it stopped to pick up passengers in Qasim Market. According to television reports, the passengers were intelligence services personnel and were on their way to work, and they made up most of the dead. But the spokesman said those in the bus were yet to be identified.

An explosives-laden motorcycle caused the second attack, in the busy Royal Artillery market.

Religious Affairs Minister Ejaz ul Haq told Dawn TV that it would be wrong to blame any religious group immediately. He said the blasts could be connected to the presence of 80,000 troops in the northwest tribal areas, and to the “war on terror” in Afghanistan.

Analysts also saw the explosions as one more in the continuing attacks against the military — the government has still not secured the release of over 150 soldiers abducted by tribal militants in the South Waziristan agency on August 30 — this time intended to signal that they had the ability to strike close to its nerve centre.

Coming at a time when Pakistan is going through political turmoil more intense than at any time in the last eight years, the blasts have added to the uncertainties ahead.

Sharif’s return

Mr. Sharif, who heads the Pakistan Muslim League (N), is preparing to cut short his exile and return home on September 10. The signals from the government indicate that it still entertains the idea of thwarting his return.

Bhutto’s meeting

Ms. Bhutto, who said she would announce her date of return on September 14, met National Security Council Secretary Tariq Aziz and President Musharraf’s Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Hamid Javed in Dubai on Tuesday.

The two sides were said to be making “a last-ditch effort” to arrive at a package of concessions acceptable to the PPP leader and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Q) so that the necessary constitutional amendments would become possible.

The talks derailed the last time when the PML (Q) refused to back her demand for lifting the constitutional bar on Prime Ministers holding the office a third time. For, this seemed specifically intended for her to take up the office after the elections.

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