Musharraf says he survived assassination bid

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2003

ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said a bomb which blew up a bridge seconds after his motorcade passed was a bid by Islamic extremists to kill him.

"It was certainly a terrorist act and certainly it was me who was targeted," General Musharraf said on state-run PTV late Sunday.

Musharraf's car was close enough to feel the explosion as he drove through crowded Rawalpindi, next to the capital Islamabad, at around 8:30 pm (1530 GMT) Sunday.

"There was an explosion just one minute or half-a-minute after we crossed," he told state-run Pakistan Television (PTV).

"It must have been a large explosive because it damaged the concrete and I felt the effect of the explosion in my car."

No-one has claimed responsibility for the...