Eight dead in Danish embassy blast

EMBASSY ATTACK: Pakistani policemen carry a body following a suicide attack outside the Denmark embassy in Islamabad. (AFP)

A suicide bomber blew up a car outside the Danish embassy in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Monday, killing eight people and wounding nearly 30 others, state media and officials said.

There was no claim of responsibility for the massive blast but officials said it was likely linked to the furore over cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed which were printed by Danish newspapers.

The bomb badly damaged the mission and a nearby UN agency, and left a huge crater in the road. Dozens of cars were wrecked by the force of the explosion, an reporter with newswire AFP said.

"It was a suicide attack carried out in a vehicle, apparently targeting the Denmark embassy," a senior security official told AFP.

Pakistani Interior Secretary Kamal Shah told reporters that a possible link to the row over the cartoons, which were first printed in 2005 and again by Danish papers in February, "will be part of the investigation".

Government-run television and the state news agency said eight people died. Shah said at least six were killed, including two policemen stationed at the embassy, and 27 wounded.

Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said the "totally unacceptable" attack was an attempt to ruin Pakistan's ties with the West. He warned Danes against all travel to Pakistan.

He said a Pakistani cleaner employed at the embassy died and three other local employees were hurt, but the embassy's four Danish staffers, including the charge d'affaires, were unharmed.

"I of course condemn this attack. It is terrible that terrorists commit such acts," Moeller told Danish television. "The aim is simply to ruin Pakistanis' relations with countries like Denmark."

Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri have both called for attacks on Danish targets because of the cartoons.

Denmark recently downgraded the embassy and moved out most foreign staff due to threats linked to the furore, diplomatic sources said. In April, Denmark moved embassy staff in Algeria and Afghanistan to secret locations.

The Danish embassy in Islamabad, which is located outside a secure enclave which houses most foreign missions, also shut down briefly in February 2006 due to the cartoon controversy.

Norway temporarily closed its embassy in Islamabad on Monday after the attack. Officials from the nearby Netherlands embassy said their staff were unhurt.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the attack, officials said.

An AFP reporter described scenes of panic after the blast and saw paramedics carrying off several casualties, including a security guard covered in blood. The blast shattered windows hundreds of metres away.

"I was in my room and there was a huge blast and the windows smashed. I was hit by a sharp object and am bleeding from my leg," said Mohammad Dilshad, who lives close by.

Mohammad Salim, a worker at the development agency, the UN-backed Devolution Trust for Community Development, told AFP he arrived at his office seconds after the explosion.

"I heard cries for help. I saw five people on the street lying on the ground in a pool of blood. I got to the first injured and thought he was dead but he was still breathing. We put him in a car and sent him to hospital," he added.

Monday's attack was the first in Islamabad since a bomb blast at an Italian restaurant frequented by foreigners on March 15 killed a Turkish woman and wounded 10 foreigners, including four US FBI staff.

Pakistan has experienced a lull in suicide attacks since a new government came to power in March and began peace talks with Taliban militants based in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.

Pakistani Taliban movement spokesman Maulvi Omar said he had "no knowledge" about the blast.

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READERS' COMMENTS

Eight dead in Danish embassy blast
Posted by Joe Simm, New York, USA on Tuesday 3 June 2008 at 18:54 UAE time


Why is it that cartoons of Allah cause more outrage than people killing inocents in his name?

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