Bomber Kills 15 in Pakistan Capital

The bomb went off next to stalls set up by Pakistan's two main opposition parties, led by exiled former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.

Shah said it was too early to "raise a finger at someone" in connection with the attack.

One of Chaudhry's attorneys, Munir Malik, accused Pakistani intelligence agencies. "This was an attack on the chief justice," he said.

However, Raja Pervez Ashraf, a leader of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, said the attacker targeted her activists. "Most among the dead and injured are our supporters," Ashraf said.

Musharraf "condemned in the strongest terms the latest terrorist act which took place in Islamabad," the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan said.

The president ordered an immediate inquiry and appealed to the public "to remain calm, vigilant and assist the authorities in unearthing the culprits and bringing them to justice," the report said.

Some analysts and diplomats expect Bhutto to team with Musharraf in a power-sharing government after elections due late this year. She was the only opposition leader to voice strong support for the crackdown on the Red Mosque, which caused more than 100 deaths during eight days of fighting.

Taliban and al-Qaida leaders and other militants have called for attacks to avenge the mosque's defenders, and a suicide blast killed three soldiers in the volatile North Waziristan region Tuesday. Bombings and suicide attacks have killed more than 100 people in the northwest since the mosque battle.

Government officials continued their effort to salvage a 10-month-old peace accord in North Waziristan, a hotbed of Taliban and al-Qaida militancy on the Afghan frontier where some leaders renounced the deal after the Red Mosque fighting.

Musharraf argues it is important to retain the accord, which saw the army scale back military operations in return for pledges from tribal elders to expel foreign fighters and prevent cross-border attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Washington pledged $750 million over five years to help develop the impoverished region and dry up support for Islamic extremism as part of the accord. But U.S. officials are pressing for more military strikes on extremists.

"Now, having dealt with the mosque, it's pretty much crossing a line and there's no going back," Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said Tuesday.

While a civilian "hearts and minds campaign" may offer the best long-term solution to combating militants in the region, "some elements have to be dealt with militarily," he said.

Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, became a key U.S. ally after the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S. and has said he will ask lawmakers for another five-year term this fall. But his domestic standing has been damaged by the fight over ousting the top judge.

The president suspended Chaudhry in March, accusing him of nepotism and other abuses of his post, charges the judge denies.

Musharraf insists he has no political motive, but opponents accuse him of trying to remove an independent-minded judge who might uphold legal challenges to the president's plan for extending his rule.

The Supreme Court, which has been hearing an appeal by Chaudhry, is expected to announce a verdict soon, perhaps by Friday.

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Associated Press writers Munir Ahmad and Stephen Graham in Islamabad and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.