Copenhagen - Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller did not
rule out deploying Danish soldiers to guard the Danish embassy in
Pakistan Tuesday, the day after a bombing that claimed six lives.
Speaking after a meeting with the foreign affairs committee,
Moller noted that 'we have soldiers at the embassy in Iraq, and
therefore we can't say it is impossible,' Danish news agency Ritzau
reported.
The minority government's parliamentary backers, the Danish
People's Party, had already Monday called for Danish soldiers to
guard embassy buildings in high-risk areas.
The opposition Social Democrats warned against acting too hastily,
while the Socialist People's Party said it opposed the
'militarization' of embassies.
Earlier, Moller attended a memorial ceremony at the Foreign
Ministry for the victims of a bombing outside the Danish embassy in
Pakistan.
Pakistan's ambassador to Denmark, Pauzia Abbas, was also present.
Moller said 'we are not without friends,' referring to a wide
range of statements condemning the blast that killed six people
including two Pakistani nationals employed by the embassy.
Denmark would 'not change its policies as a result of terror. The
terrorists should not decide over us,' Moller said.
Moller said it was still not known who had committed the bombing.
Speculation has focused on al-Qaeda, Taliban or militants from
Pakistan's volatile tribal areas angered over Denmark's involvement
in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the publication of controversial
caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed in Danish newspapers.
Meanwhile, teams from the Danish Foreign Ministry, military
intelligence as well as the security and intelligence service (PET)
were on their way to Pakistan.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday condemned
the bombing as a 'cowardly attack,' adding 'Denmark will not give in
to terrorists.'
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