ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's top judge said Wednesday he would probe the bloody attack on ex-premier Benazir Bhutto's homecoming, wading further into the country's deepening political turmoil.
The suicide blast during Bhutto's homecoming parade in Karachi on Oct. 18 killed more than 140 people, the deadliest incident in a wave of violence that has raised fears for nuclear-armed Pakistan's stability.
The government has vowed to expose those responsible for an attack widely blamed on Islamic extremists fighting security forces near the Afghan frontier.
However, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry expressed impatience with an investigation that is under intense international scrutiny as Pakistan moves toward crucial elections.
The Supreme Court will review the bombing to ensure the "perpetrators of this barbaric act are brought to book, which will result in restoring the confidence of the nation in the system of governance," a court statement said.
It scheduled a hearing in the case for Thursday.
The activist chief justice has emerged as a key player in Pakistan's power struggle since President Gen. Pervez Musharraf made a botched attempt to fire him in March.
After his reinstatement in July amid a clamor for an end to military rule, the court has taken up a string of high-profile issues, including whether its U.S.-allied military president can remain in power.
Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup and made Pakistan a key ally of the United States in its war against terrorism, won a landslide victory in an Oct. 6 presidential election.
However, the court has ruled that the result is not final until it rules on opposition complaints that Musharraf was ineligible to contest the vote by lawmakers because he has retained his position as army chief.
Musharraf has pledged to quit the army before starting a new presidential term.
But he declined on election night to say whether he would accept a negative verdict from the court, fanning speculation that he could invoke emergency powers to stay in control. The court plans to rule on the case by Friday.
During a hearing on Wednesday, Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday parried arguments from government lawyers that the complaint should be referred to a lower court.
"It's a question of national interest," Ramday said. "The whole country is in a fix."
The Supreme Court is also considering whether Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf ousted eight years ago, should be allowed to return from exile to make a political comeback.
Bhutto, a two-time premier, returned to Pakistan after more than eight years abroad after Musharraf signed an amnesty to drop corruption cases against her and other politicians and bureaucrats -- amid expectation she and Musharraf could form a pro-Western alliance to counter extremism.
However, she has accused hard-liners in the government and security forces of conspiring to kill her and criticized the police investigation into the Oct. 18 attack.
The court said it was looking into the attack on her partly because of the damage to Pakistan's image, business confidence and campaigning for January elections.
In remarks likely to irk authorities, it also noted that "more than a week has passed since these bloody explosions occurred, however, no clue has so far been found explaining the reasons and the persons involved."
"This incident has not only shaken the confidence of the entire nation, but it has also negatively affected the business environment in the country and resulted in a very poor projection of Pakistan in the world community," it added.
Bhutto's party has called for foreign experts to assist the investigation -- a demand rejected by the government, which insists it can solve the case on its own.
Police are also investigating a suicide attack near Musharraf's army office in the city of Rawalpindi that killed seven people Tuesday. Police said surgeons had reconstructed the severed head of the bomber.
Bhutto said Tuesday that she would visit Rawalpindi on Nov. 9, but that she would no longer hold processions like the one attacked in Karachi.
Her aides said Wednesday that she would first travel to Dubai to await the court verdict on Musharraf's re-election and its political fallout.
