Posted on 03/14/2004 9:31:26 PM PST by HAL9000
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) -- Explosive experts defused a bomb Monday in a small van parked next to the heavily guarded U.S. Consulate in this southern Pakistani city, police said.Security guards at the consulate informed police about the van, which was parked close to a perimeter wall of the building, said Mohammed Irfan, a Karachi police official.
Police found a water tank in the van that was filled with explosives. The experts disconnected a timer and detonators attached to the tank, Irfan said.
"We saved this place from big destruction," he said.
Yes it will .. but are they up to the task??
To be honest ... I'm not so sure
Police defuse huge bomb near U.S. Consulate in southern Pakistan city
KARACHI, Pakistan - Explosive experts on Monday defused a bomb in a small van parked next to the heavily guarded U.S. Consulate in this southern Pakistani city, sparing the building from "big destruction," police said.
Security guards at the consulate informed police about the van, which was parked close to a perimeter wall of the building, Karachi police official Mohammed Irfan said.
Police searched the van and found a water tank filled with explosives. Police explosive experts disconnected a timer and detonators attached to the tank, Irfan said.
"We saved this place from big destruction," he said.
He said the tank contained about 750 liters (200 gallons) of a liquid explosive material. Police were investigating to determine the type of the explosive.
Hundreds of policemen and paramilitary troops cordoned off the building, in an upscale neighborhood of Karachi.
A man answering a call at the consulate, who declined to identify himself, said it was closed.
"No one is here. The consulate is closed. I am afraid I cannot tell you anything," he said.
In June 2002, a suicide bomber blew up a truck in front of the U.S. Consulate, killing 14 Pakistanis. The attack came a month after another suicide attack outside a hotel that killed 11 French engineers.
Islamic militants were blamed in the two attacks.
Extremists have been angered by Pakistan's support of the U.S.-led war on terrorism, including the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan to oust the hardline Taliban regime in late 2001.
Irfan said bomb experts were looking around the consulate to check for more explosives.
He said security guards saw two men park the van. They told the guards it had broken down and then left in another car.
Investigators found that the vehicle was stolen from a residential area of Karachi late Sunday.
It was not immediately clear who might have tried to bomb the consulate.
"It's an initial stage. We are investigating who may have done this," Irfan said.
Car bomb found outside US consulate in southern Pakistan - police
KARACHI (AFX-ASIA) - Police in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi have found a car laden with explosives and a timer outside the US consulate.
"It appears the car was parked with the intention of exploding it," police officer Mohammad Irfan told reporters.
"We are checking the vehicle and the type of explosives."
Two young men had parked the Suzuki high-top vehicle in front of the US Consulate building in central Karachi earlier today.
When police told the pair that parking was forbidden in front of the consulate, they stepped out and climbed into another car, saying the Suzuki had broken down.
A search of the car led to the discovery of chemical explosives and the timer, Irfan said.
A car bomb exploded outside the US consulate in June 2002, killing 12 Pakistani bystanders and guards.
It was the second deadly car bomb attack in Karachi that year, coming one month after 11 French naval engineers and three Pakistanis were blown up outside the city's Sheraton Hotel.
Instead of the "olympic village" type accomodations for the athletes, I think each country should have their own compound.
It's not very p.c., but if something happens they can't blame the greeks, only themselves for not providing securitiy for their respective athletes. Well of course no matter what happens it will be our fault too, I mean whats a terrorist attack without blaming the U.S.
Explosives found near U.S. consulate in Pakistan
KARACHI (Reuters) - Explosives and two detonators have been found in a car parked outside the U.S. consulate in Pakistan's southern Karachi city, two days before U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is due to visit the country.
The car with the explosives was towed by police to a sports ground where officers were defusing it, Karachi sub-inspector Muhammad Irfan told Reuters on Monday.
Powell is expected to visit the capital, Islamabad, but not Karachi on Wednesday.
Explosives laden car found near US Karachi Consulate
(Updated at 1100 PST)
KARACHI: Authorities have captured an explosives laden vehicle near the US consulate in Karachi, Geo TV reported.
Some unidentified persons Monday morning arrived in two vehicles at the US consulate located at Fatima Jinnah Road here. They parked a vehicle just opposite to the consulate’s wall. The Frontier Constabulary men posted there asked them to remove vehicle from the place, but the men fled in another vehicle.
FC personnel informed the local police about the incident. Policemen found a water tank on the back seat of the vehicle with a timer and a detonator and called the bomb disposal squad.
The bomb disposal experts detached detonator. It was attached with chemical explosives, which could have exploded after some time, the disposal experts said.
The vehicle had a government number plate and it was snatched from a man Muneeb Tariq from Baloch Colony on Sunday evening. The actual number plate of the vehicle was replaced with government numbers.
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