Pakistan Car Bomb Kills 37 Two Days Before Vote

Blast hits election office as fears mount over security, rigged results
By Wesley Oliver,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 16, 2008 11:14 AM CST
Pakistan Car Bomb Kills 37 Two Days Before Vote
Supporters of Pakistan's opposition alliance All Parties Democratic Moment (APDM) shout slogans against Musharraf government during an electoral meeting ahead of Monday's parliamentary elections in Lahore Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008. A suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into an election...   (Associated Press)

A car bomb exploded during a rally by Benazir Bhutto’s political party in Pakistan today, killing 37 people and wounding nearly 100 just two days before crucial elections. The blast happened in front of an election office of the Pakistan People’s Party, which Bhutto led before her assassination last December. "It was a suicide attack,” Pakistan’s interior minister told AFP.

The bombing occurred on the final day of campaigning before Monday’s parliamentary polls, ratcheting up concerns over security and rigged results. President Pervez Musharraf, whose party is losing ground to the PPP, promised fair and peaceful elections, but Human Rights Watch said the hesitance of Pakistan’s Election Commission to investigate complaints “suggests it will not rule fairly,” CNN reports. (More Pakistan stories.)

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