Pakistani authorities suspect that the terrorist group al Qaeda may have been behind an attempt at the weekend to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf. General Musharraf, a key ally in the US-led 'war on terror', narrowly escaped Sunday's attack when a series of explosions ripped apart a bridge in the city of Rawalpindi just after his motorcade passed. Intelligence officials said suspicion was falling on al Qaeda or an allied Pakistani group, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen al-Almi, several of whose members have already been convicted for trying to kill Musharraf. "The method used in the explosions points fingers towards them," said one intelligence official. "It is the handiwork of highly trained people and that's why we suspect them."
| I thought they cleaned out al-Aalmi? Or have they become something like Turkish Hezbollah used to be? |
Several key al Qaeda members, including the organisation's number three Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, have been arrested inside Pakistan, often with the help of US investigators. Three members of al-Almi were convicted in October for another failed attempt to kill Musharraf by parking an explosives-laden car along a route that his motorcade was to take during a visit to the southern city of Karachi. On that occasion, the bomb's remote control detonator failed. But the same car was later used for an attack on the US consulate in Karachi that killed 12 people. Pakistan has stepped up security since the latest incident and launched an inquiry into the lapses which apparently allowed the bridge to escape security checks. Seven security personnel, including four men detailed to check the bridge, have been taken into custody and are being questioned, intelligence officials said. |