Benazir Bhutto stated that the explosion which left at least 139 people dead in the city of Karachi was planned and carried out by members of the regime of Pakistan’s former president Muhammad Zia ul-Haq.

"I know exactly who tried to kill me. It was officials of the former regime of General Zia, who today are behind the extremism and fanaticism" in the Asian country, the former prime minister said in an interview for the French weekly Paris Match.

"We must purge these elements, which are still present in the secret service. I represent a danger to them. If I bring democracy to the country, they will lose their influence," Bhutto said in the statement that was released just three hours after the bombings took place and was shown in the official site of the French weekly.

"The Taliban and Islamic extremists can not act on their own. They need logistical support, food, weapons and someone to supervise them," she added.

There were actually two explosions that nearly killed Bhutto as they ripped through a large crowd that were cheering at her long-awaited return to Pakistan. She was in exile for eight years.

According to her statement following the explosions she was lucky enough to escape the assassination because she was protected by the armored side of the truck in which she came to the cheering crowd to hold a speech.

The return of Ms Butho to Pakistan has the objective of shoring up the position of America's ally General Pervez. This was the main reason why the United States and Great Britain backed up this move.

The plan was that General Musharraf would continue to lead as the president and Benazir Bhutto, as prime minister, would increase the stability in the country as well as the respectability.

The assassination attempt instead has shown Pakistan’s high degree if instability.