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Attempt on life of PM kills eight

Scattered body parts of an unidentified suicide bomber who attacked Pakistan's Finance Minister and Prime Minister-designate Shaukat Aziz's motorcade rest around Aziz's car in Fateh Jang, 50 km south-west of Islamabad on Friday. PHOTO: EPA

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.

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.
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