KARACHI, 5 May 2006 — Pakistani police have arrested two militants suspected of planning a March 2 suicide bomb attack that killed a US diplomat and three others outside the US consulate in Karachi, Sindh Gov. Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad said.
We have got two people in custody in connection with the attack, Ishratul Ebad, said in an interview. He said they were being questioned about their links to the bombing, but did not elaborate on their identities or on any group that they might be affiliated with.
“We have got some encouraging leads from both of them. They belong to a jihadi group and were the main planners of the consulate attack,” Salahuddin Haider, a spokesman for the provincial Sindh government, said.
The attack took place on March 2, the eve of a visit by U.S. President George W. Bush to Pakistan, and police at the time said they suspected Islamist militants opposed to President Pervez Musharraf’s support for the US-led war on terrorism.
Haider said he could not release the name of the suspects, but termed the arrests as “a major breakthrough”. The attack was well-planned, with the driver of a white Toyota Corolla packed with explosives ramming the diplomat David Foy’s vehicle meters (yards) from the US Consulate main gate. The blast also wounded 52 people
A senior police official, who asked not to be named, said investigators had found a link between the arrested militants and an Al-Qaeda-linked Pakistani militant group operating in the troubled tribal region of Waziristan.
“We are also sharing information with the FBI,” he added. Another security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the arrested men belonged to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni Muslim militant group that has forged links with al Qaeda, though it is also behind many attacks on Pakistan’s minority Shiite Muslim community.
The link to Waziristan, a rugged region bordering Afghanistan, is significant as Pakistan’s security forces have been fighting Al-Qaeda and pro-Taliban militants there for the more than two years.
— With input from agencies
