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| India-Pakistan |
| Explosives seized as Pakistan foils plan to kill US envoys |
| 2002-12-16 |
| The arrest of three Pakistani militants plotting to assassinate two United States diplomats has led to what police described as the biggest-ever seizure of explosives in Pakistan. A 10,000-kilogram cache of ammonium nitrate, enough to make thousands of bombs, was discovered in a warehouse in Karachi on Sunday after police foiled a suicide bomb attack by Islamic militants against the US diplomats. "This chemical is used in making bombs and this is certainly the biggest cache," Karachi's police chief, Asad Ashraf Malik, said. That's a lot of fertilizer, all right. Three men were arrested with 10kg of explosives packed into a Volkswagen that they planned to detonate in an attack on the diplomats, Sindh province's police chief, Kamal Shah, said. Mr Shah said the arrests and subsequent interrogation led police to the warehouse where the explosives were kept in 250 sacks. Police were looking for the warehouse's owner. The three arrested men were members of the extremist movement Harkat-e-Jihad-e-Islami and were trained in Afghanistan. Mr Shah said the ringleader had planned to kill the diplomats with the explosives-laden car. Mr Shah identified the would-be suicide bomber as Asif Zaheer, 28, and said he had backed out at the last minute from a May 8 suicide attack outside Karachi's Sheraton Hotel that killed 11 French engineers. "But this time, he wanted to carry out the suicide bombing himself and the two American diplomats were his target," he said. Zaheer was found in possession of the registration document for the 1974 Toyota Corolla used in the attack on the French engineers at the Sheraton. These guys still are using their own cars. A police source said Zaheer, the son of a retired government employee, was using a VW Beetle "because the trunk is in the front of the car and can fit a lot of explosives". So much for the "Love Bug". The source said Zaheer told investigators he would not divulge all the details of the plot, "as that would reduce my reward in heaven". Zaheer allegedly said: "The only regret I have is that I could not secure the status of martyr." Nothing sadder than a failed martyr. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 Sadder? I say: nothing dumber than a failed martyr... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2002-12-16 21:11:45 |