PAKISTAN OFFICIAL: "TALIBAN AND ALQAEDA BEHIND ATTACK"

AP:

A top provincial security official said Friday that the suicide attack on Benazir Bhutto bore the hallmarks of an al-Qaida-linked, pro-Taliban warlord based near the Afghan border.

The ''signature at the blast site and the modus operandi'' suggested the involvement of militants linked to warlord Baitullah Mehsud and al-Qaida, said Ghulam Muhammad Mohtarem, the head security official in the province where Mehsud is based.

''We were already fearing a strike from Mehsud and his local affiliates and this were conveyed to the (Bhutto's Pakistan's) People's Party but they got carried away by political exigencies instead of taking our concern seriously,'' Mohtarem said.

There was no claim of responsibility for the bombing of the former prime minister's convoy, which killed up to 136 people as Bhutto triumphantly paraded through her hometown of Karachi Thursday.

On the eve of Bhutto's arrival, a provincial government official had cited intelligence reports that three suicide bombers linked to Mehsud were in Karachi. The local government had also warned Bhutto could be targeted by Taliban or al-Qaida.

AS I BLOGGED EARLIER THIS WEEK: THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF A MAJOR JIHADO-TERRORIST OFFENSIVE AGAINST PAKISTAN. THEY'VE FAILED EVERYWHERE ELSE.

PAKISTAN IS THE TARGET OF CHOICE BECAUSE IT'S NEAR THEIR HIDEOUTS IN EASTERN AFGHANISTAN AND WAZIRISTAN, AND IT HAS AN AMENABLE DOMESTIC POPULATION, AND A RICH PAYLOAD: THE NUKES!

AND... IRAN LIKES THE DIVERSION, TOO - SO EXPECT THEM TO HELP MORE AND MORE.

STAY TUNED...