Musharraf deplores Bhutto killing

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf Thursday blamed insurgents for the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and appealed for calm.

Speaking on state television, Musharraf, who had allowed Bhutto to return to Pakistan in October from her self-imposed exile in London and Dubai, urged calm "so that the evil designs of terrorists can be defeated," Britain's Telegraph reported.

Musharraf blamed insurgents, saying the country has been fighting them all along.

Benazir Bhutto, who was 54, was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near Islamabad, where she had gone to attend a political rally in preparation for the parliamentary elections on Jan. 8.

In her remarks at the rally, she had urged, "We must curb the religious extremists ... we must curb the violence in this country," CNN reported.

CNN reported Musharraf called for three days of national mourning for Bhutto.

Musharraf, who lifted his much-criticized six-week long emergency rule earlier this month, was reported holding an emergency meeting with top officials after the Bhutto killing to "consider all aspects of the tragic national incident."

Bhutto reportedly died of her injuries at the Rawalpindi General Hospital, where she was taken after the attack. At least 15 more people died in the incident and 56 were injured.

Prior to Bhutto's return to Pakistan, Musharraf, who is facing a host of problems and rising Islamic violence at home, was reported to be in talks with her party on a power-sharing deal. Those talks, however, ended after Musharraf imposed emergency rule.