By Xinhua
Islamabad : Former prime minister and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto Monday urged terrorists to surrender arms and come to the negotiating table.
“When Pakistan was formed, people sacrificed their lives, as they did in the attempt on my life last week,” she told reporters at the mausoleum of Pakistan’s founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who led the country to independence in 1947.
Bhutto’s plan to visit the mausoleum Thursday on her arrival in the southern port city of Karachi after eight years of self-imposed exile was changed after a terrorist strike that killed 139 people in Bhutto’s procession.
“I have come to pay homage to the father of the nation. We believe in the power of the people,” she added.
Bhutto also renewed call for the Pakistani government to invite experts from the international community to investigate last Thursday’s bombings. The government refused that request Monday.
“We reject the demand for involvement of foreign experts in the probe. Our own law enforcement agency personnel are capable of investigating the incident,” Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said.
Meanwhile, investigation into Thursday’s blasts gathered pace as the police said they now suspected two suicide bombers were involved.
A preliminary report of Karachi blasts compiled by some agencies was presented to President Pervez Musharraf Monday, local TV channel Geo quoted sources as saying.
The initial report prepared by seven agencies suggested that the attacker targeted Bhutto but she survived because of the armored carrier she was riding.
The report said one of the blasts was a suicide attack and there were no evidences of the second attack. It suggested that the suicide attacker probably hurled a hand grenade and than blew up himself.