Conspiracy surrounds Bhutto bombing

The suicide attack on Benazir Bhutto that killed around 140 people was unsurprising. There are numerous extremist groups in Pakistan that would want the former prime minister dead. Yet Bhutto has politicised the investigation by accusing President Pervez Musharraf's allies of complicity. They have responded by accusing Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of orchestrating the attack on their leader. Given the number of suspects and the political mud-slinging, it seems unlikely that the case will ever be satisfactorily resolved.

After eight years in exile, Bhutto returned to Pakistan on 18 October amid rumours that she had secured some form of power-sharing deal with Musharraf. Although no official agreement has been announced, the government paved the way for Bhutto's return by dropping the corruption charges against her on the eve of the 6 October presidential election. In a sign that some agreement had been reached, the PPP did not oppose Musharraf's controversial re-election.

It was clear that Bhutto's life would be in danger as soon as she returned. She had explicitly outlined her ambitions to take on Pakistan's extremists and even said she would consider allowing US forces to enter Pakistani territory if the security situation in the tribal areas continued to deteriorate. She also supported the storming of Islamabad's Red Mosque (Lal Masjid) in July, an assault that has incensed Islamists in Pakistan and elsewhere.

Given the obvious threat, there has been considerable debate as to whether the security surrounding her return was sufficiently high. At the same time, she has been accused of increasing the risk to herself and others by insisting on a lengthy procession from Karachi airport to the tomb of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's founder, where she intended to give a speech. Ishrat ul-Ebad Khan, the governor of Sindh province, told journalists after the attack: "They wanted a rally, they wanted to announce the time and the vehicle for political reasons. They had decided to take 18 hours to travel to the mausoleum. The Home Department constantly asked they reduce the time, but they did not accept this."

Bhutto travelled in an armoured, open-topped bus. A bullet-proof screen protected part of the top deck of the bus, but Bhutto refused to stand behind it. Police officers escorted the cavalcade and lined the route, as did Bhutto's own security detail. Hundreds of her supporters volunteered to act as human shields, many of them forming a chain around the bus. Others positioned themselves in the crowd and on bridges to prevent the bus being attacked from above.

The convoy carried equipment to jam radio signals that conspirators might use to communicate or remotely detonate bombs. However, this equipment did not work. Journalists on top of the bus could be seen using their telephones, even though they should have been jammed.

There was considerable confusion over the details of the attack several days later, although it was clear that there had been a small explosion followed by a larger one just after midnight on 19 October. Some early reports suggested a car bomber had rammed the bus. However, the authorities quickly found a severed head they said belonged to a pedestrian suicide bomber. Powerful explosive vests tend to create such extreme pressures on a suicide bomber's body that he is decapitated and his head propelled upwards and left relatively undamaged by the explosion. 556 of 2,421 words