Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network might be behind the failed assassination attempt against Pakistan's prime minister-designate, a senior Cabinet minister said yesterday, though investigators are still pouring over the evidence.
The death toll from the suicide bomb attack Friday against Shaukat Aziz, meanwhile, rose to eight, with about three dozen injured, said Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.
PHOTO: EPA
Among those killed was Aziz's driver, who had not yet closed the bullet-proof door on the car when a man approached and detonated a bomb.
"Al-Qaeda may be behind it," Ahmed told The Associated Press, before adding that there is no hard evidence linking the group.
President General Pervez Musharraf has said he believes al-Qaeda was involved in two attempts to kill him in December, the last of which killed 17 people. He was unharmed.
The attack on Aziz, the finance minister already tapped to become the nation's next prime minister, occurred Friday as the 60-year-old politician left a rally in Fateh Jang, a town 55km southwest of the capital.
It came hours after Pakistan announced the capture of a senior al-Qaeda terrorist, and a day after Pakistan acknowledged it was considering sending troops to Iraq.
Islamic militants are enraged at President General Pervez Musharraf's support for the US-led war on terror. Al-Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri called for his assassination in a tape released earlier this year, and several homegrown militant groups have also been implicated in plots to kill him.
Pakistani intelligence officials swooped down Sunday on Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani -- a Tanzanian with a US$25 million bounty on his head for his alleged role in the 1998 East African embassy attacks. The government said the arrest was "a major blow" to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, and vowed to keep hunting terrorists.
The assassination attempt on Aziz occurred after he and Fateh Jang mayor Tahir Sadiq had just gotten into the bulletproof Mercedes, parked in a crowded area. A man witnesses say was in his early 20s approached the car and set off the blast.
"The moment I sat in the car with Aziz there was an explosion," Sadiq said. "He is safe and God Almighty is the greatest protector."
An AP photographer at the scene shortly after the attack say it left body parts, blood and glass strewn over a wide area.
Two hours after the attack, Aziz -- appearing unhurt -- told a gathering of supporters outside his Islamabad home late Friday that he was all right and would "continue to serve the country with the same commitment and determination."
About a dozen heavily armed Pakistani soldiers arrived shortly afterward to guard the residence.
Ahmed late Friday said the attack was a "conspiracy against our democracy but the election process will continue."
Musharraf also condemned the attack and expressed grief over the loss of lives. "These cowardly acts will not deter us from our fight against terror," he said.
Aziz, a former Citibank executive credited with turning around Pakistan's economy under Musharraf, was in Fateh Jang to campaign for an upcoming by-election in which he needs to win a seat in the lower house.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS