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3 Men Held In Bhutto Convoy Attack

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By LAURA KING, Los Angeles Times

Published: October 21, 2007

KARACHI, Pakistan - Authorities sifting through clues in the devastating bombing of Benazir Bhutto's homecoming procession here questioned three men Saturday, a source close to the investigation said.

The police and Bhutto's associates acknowledged, however, that the list of groups and individuals possibly having an interest in harming the pro-Western former prime minister was a long one.

Police circulated a sketch of a man they think blew himself up only a few feet from the former leader's armored vehicle Thursday, killing at least 136 people and injuring hundreds of others, as she returned from eight years of self-imposed exile.

The three men in custody were picked up in Punjab province, which serves as a home base for several major Pakistani militant groups. A senior police investigator, speaking on condition of anonymity, said police think they might have traced a vehicle the bomber used to join in the massive procession.

Bhutto and authorities have blamed Islamic militants for the attack, but she also suggested possible complicity on the part of some political allies of Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

The 54-year-old former leader also has complained that measures by local authorities to guard her convoy were inadequate.

Musharraf's government responded angrily Saturday, saying everything possible had been done to ensure Bhutto's safety but that she had courted danger by insisting on an hours-long open-air procession into the heart of Karachi.

'The government provided the best possible security to her,' said Tariq Azim, minister of state for information.

Bhutto stayed out of sight Saturday, sequestered with aides at her Karachi residence.

She had planned this weekend to hold a large rally in her family's ancestral hometown of Larkana, where she was to visit the tomb of her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

The elder Bhutto was hanged in 1979 by then-military ruler Gen. Zia ul-Haq. But such appearances were on hold while party faithful observed three days of mourning in the wake of the attack early Friday.

In Karachi, tensions boiled as angry Bhutto supporters sought to enforce a closing of shops and businesses in observance of the mourning period.

Protesters burned tires and threw stones at shopkeepers who failed to observe the closure.

Police said 14 people suffered gunshot wounds in daylong clashes in several neighborhoods.

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