Blasts during Bhutto procession, several dead

KARACHI (Reuters) - Two explosions hit former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto's convoy on Friday killing more than 20 people as she returned to Pakistan from eight years in self-imposed exile.

Television channels said Bhutto was safe and had left the truck that had been transporting her through roads thronged by hundreds of thousands of people.

Militants linked to al Qaeda, angered by Bhutto's support for the United States war on terrorism, had threatened to assassinate her.

Bhutto returned to lead her Pakistan People's Party into national elections meant to return the country to civilian rule.

Soon after arriving Bhutto, boarded the truck designed to withstand a blast in case of attack.

Dressed in a green kameez, a loose tunic, her head covered by a white scarf, Bhutto had stood in plain view on top of the vehicle, ignoring police advice to stay behind its bullet proof glass, as it edged through crowds waving the red, black and green tricolor of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

Some 20,000 security personnel were deployed to provide protection.