FreeRepublic , LLC
PO BOX 9771
FRESNO, CA 93794
STOP BY A BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD
Posted on 06/15/2002 1:37:34 PM PDT by kattracks
Investigators Examine Whether Pakistan Bomb May Have Been Remote-ControlKARACHI, Pakistan June 15 — Investigators who first blamed a suicide bomber for a deadly blast outside the U.S. consulate were examining on Saturday whether it was caused by a remote-controlled bomb hidden in a driver's education car taking three women to get licenses.
Friday's explosion killed at least 10 people and injured 45 as it blew a gaping hole in the heavily guarded consulate's perimeter wall, shattered windows a block away and sent debris flying a half-mile. A previously unknown group claimed responsibility.
The widespread devastation made it difficult to piece together events leading up to the bombing, even the precise death toll and which vehicle contained the explosives. Officials first said 11 people were killed, then lowered the death toll Saturday to 10, citing confusion in sorting out body parts.
Later Saturday, the chief of security in Sindh province, Brig. Mukhtar Sheikh, said forensic experts had again concluded 11 people were killed after re-examining body parts.
Officials first said they thought a suicide bomber was responsible. But attention focused Saturday on the driver's school car that was carrying an instructor and three female students. Police said the bomb may have been stashed in the vehicle by someone who knew it would pass by the consulate and who detonated the explosives by radio from nearby.
"We are keeping all options open," Sheikh said. "This could be one possibility which can't be ruled out."
The dead also included a physician living in Kenya, Aliyah Warsi, and her uncle, who had just left the nearby Marriott Hotel after making arrangements for her wedding that was to have taken place Saturday.
The U.S. Consulate said a number of American teams, including FBI investigators, were coming to Karachi to examine the crime scene and evaluate structural damage. Additional security also was arriving.
The United States closed its consulates in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar, as well as the American Center in Islamabad, with a decision to be made over the weekend on whether to reopen Monday. The fourth attack against foreigners in Pakistan since January also prompted the U.S. government to consider scaling back diplomatic staff in a country on the front line of the war against al-Qaida.
"This explosion is a stark reminder again to all Americans living in and traveling through Pakistan of the need to pay attention to their personal security situation," the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad said in a warning issued to Americans in Pakistan.
Security also was tightened at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, capital of neighboring Afghanistan.
One U.S. Marine guard and five Pakistani employees at the Karachi consulate suffered slight injuries from flying debris. Tight security measures, including concrete barriers around a 10-foot-high concrete wall, probably prevented more casualties inside the heavily guarded compound.
U.S. officials in Washington said they suspect al-Qaida or affiliated Islamic extremist groups carried out the attack, but have no direct evidence. Several Pakistani groups in Karachi have ties to Osama bin Laden's terror network.
Retired Pakistani Gen. Talat Masood, a security analyst, said al-Qaida involvement "cannot be ruled out."
"Surely, this is the price we are paying for our support to the international community in the war against terrorism," Masood told The Associated Press.
Late Friday, Karachi newspapers received a fax message claiming responsibility in the name of the previously unknown "Al-Qanoon," or The Law. The fax claimed the attack was the start of a holy war against the United States and its "puppet ally," the Pakistani government.
In Washington, U.S. counterterrorism officials said they were aware of the claim but had not determined if it was credible. President Bush said the bombing speaks to the nature of terrorism, fighting an enemy of "radical killers."
Violence against foreigners has increased since Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf threw his support behind the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.
The blast occurred less than a mile from the site where 11 French engineers and three others were killed in a suicide bombing May 8. Police suspect Islamic extremists, possibly al-Qaida members, were responsible.
Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was abducted and slain in Karachi in January while working on a story about Islamic militants. Four Islamic militants are on trial in that case.
On March 17, a man ran down the aisle of a church in Islamabad's diplomatic enclave, throwing grenades. He was killed along with four others, including two Americans a U.S. Embassy employee and her teen-age daughter. The man has not been identified.
The United States withdrew all nonessential personnel and relatives of other staffers from Pakistan after the church bombing. Other countries have followed suit.
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Of course three women, especially ones who dare to wish to learn to drive, in the center of the blast is grave to those Islamofascist scum.
Yeah, I've done the same thing. The trick is to count all the arms and legs, divide by 4, and use that as a base line. THEN you can start counting all the little bits....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.