Advani, Jaswant call Benazir to express concern

New Delhi, Oct 19 (UNI) Senior BJP leaders and Leaders of Opposition in Parliament L K Advani and Jaswant Singh today telephoned to Pakistan People's Party chief Benazir Bhutto to convey their concerns about the attack on her convoy last night leaving at least 125 dead and scores injured.

When Mr Advani called up Mrs Bhutto, she could not take the call immediately but called him back to thank him for his concern. Mr Advani expressed his distress over the attack and told her that terror had no place in democracy and the violence was unleashed against the democratic process.

Mr Singh, a former Foreign Minister in the NDA regime, in his separate conversation with the Pakistani leader also expressed his grief over the attacks that had left scores dead. He also wished speedy recovery of several PPP leaders including PPP Vice Chairman Makhdoom Fahim who were injured in last night's blast.

Earlier in a statement Mr Advani expressed his anguish about the Karachi blasts, which he said, were intended to stall the process reinduction of democracy after a long gap. ''It was an irony that a former Prime Minister was turned away from returning to his own country while another former PM was greeted with such a deadly terrorist attack upon her arrival after eight years of stay in exile,'' he said.

He said stability in Pakistan was a key factor for normalisation of Indo-Pak relations that could be best guaranteed by establishment of genuine democracy in that country. ''I join fellow Indians in conveying their solidarity to people of Pakistan in this arduous two pronged battle'', he said.

UNI