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| India-Pakistan |
| Investigators hunt Qaeda cell after blast |
| 2008-09-23 |
| Investigators on Monday scrambled to track down an Islamabad-based Al Qaeda cell believed to have carried out the devastating bombing of the Marriott Hotel, security officials said. Investigators said they believed the attackers constructed the massive 600-kilogramme truck bomb at a safe house in the capital, since most lorries entering the heavily guarded city are searched at checkpoints. "Our focus at the moment is to track down the network in Islamabad which must have facilitated the movement and construction of the bomb," a senior official involved in the investigation told AFP. It was likely, however, that the explosives were smuggled into Islamabad in small consignments from militant strongholds in the Tribal Areas, the official added. Explosives used in the bombing were like those used in two other major militant attacks, including one on the Danish embassy in Islamabad in June. "We are collecting evidence. The explosives were similar to those used in the Danish embassy, which was claimed by Al Qaeda, and the attack on the ISI camp in Rawalpindi last year," the official said. The intelligence agencies and not the police would arrest the suspects, an intelligence official told Daily Times. Forensic report: Sources privy to the developments said the forensic report was likely to be delayed as experts determine the nature of the explosives used in the attack, and that might create problems for the investigation team. The team might submit a report in two days however, they said. US team: A three-member team of US experts visited the crime scene along with Pakistani investigators on Monday, and took photographs and collected samples. Meanwhile, a team completed the search and rescue operation in the hotel and said the building was not likely to collapse. |
| Posted by:Fred |