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Jun 02 2008

Blast at Danish embassy in Pakistan

Global

By Agencies

Security forces and emergency workers rushed to the scene of the blast [AFP]

At least eight people have been reported dead and dozens injured after a large explosion outside the Danish embassy in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

The suspected car bomb in the embassy's parking area caused extensive damage to the building and left a huge crater in the area on Monday.

Denmark had moved out most of its foreign staff in recent months due to threats linked to the row over the cartoons.

"The timing is very strange... It is not an issue right now, it's over. No one, not even in the tribal areas, is talking about the cartoons"

Ahmed Qureshi, political analyst

Ahmed Qureshi, a political analyst, said that the timing was very strange if it was an attack in response to the publication of the cartoons.

"The timing is very strange... It is not an issue right now, it's over. No one, not even in the tribal areas, is talking about the cartoons," he said.

Sheikh Abdul Wahed Pedersen, Imam of Danish speaking Muslims, agreed.

"The timing is indeed strange ... It is not a hot topic here [in Demark], it is not a hot topic anywhere else," he said.

"It could also be a direct attack on the political situation in Pakistan - a double-hit... It could also be in relation to Afghanistan, Denmark is working in Afghanistan."

The country has about 550 troops stationed in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province.

However, diplomatic sources told the AFP news agency that Denmark had moved out most of its foreign staff in recent months due to threats linked to the row over the cartoons.

Denmark called an emergency ministerial meeting after the attack and Per Stig Moeller, the foreign minister, called the attack "totally unacceptable".

Norway closed its embassy in Islamabad after the blast.

Security alert

Zahid Hussein, a Pakistani military analyst, said that the new government's policy of negotiating with tribal fighters on the border with Afghanistan may have spurred the attack.

The blast was reportedly caused by a car bomb in an embassy parking area [AFP]

"Several groups have warned that they will not tolerate this kind of stance by the government," he said.

"Two or three months ago there was a high security alert in Pakistan, not just around the Danish embassy, but also the Dutch embassy.

"There could have been some security lapse."

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing.

A reporter for the AFP news agency said that the force of the blast badly damaged two buildings in front of the embassy, one of which belongs to a development agency.

A worker at the agency, the UN-backed Devolution Trust for Community Development, said he arrived at his office seconds after the explosion.

"I saw blood and smoke and the trees were burning and debris was in the air settling down. Our building looked like it had been destroyed," Mohammad Salim told AFP.