Islamabad - Internet postings attributed to al-Qaeda claimed
responsibility for this week's suicide car bombing at the Danish
embassy in Islamabad that killed six people.
The statement signed by Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, al-Qaeda's top
leader in Afghanistan, and posted Wednesday on militant websites said
Monday's attack was an act of revenge for 'what the infidels from the
so-called state of Denmark have published, the insulting cartoons of
the Prophet Mohammed,' according to a translation by the US-based
SITE Intelligence Group Monitoring Service late Wednesday.
It added that the bombing was a warning to others.
'This should serve as a warning to the infidel countries regarding
their crimes against our Prophet Mohammed,' it said, according to
SITE, which monitors terrorist content on websites. 'They must
apologize immediately or else this will only be the first step in our
struggle.'
The authenticity of the statement could not be determined.
The cartoons of Mohammed were first published in Danish and
Norwegian newspapers in late 2005, triggering riots in early 2006 in
several Muslim nations including Pakistan.
The caricatures were reprinted on February 13 by Danish newspapers
in defence of what they called freedom of speech after a plot to
murder one of the cartoonists was uncovered. The publication
retriggered protests.
On Monday, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car
carrying fake diplomatic registration plates near the main entrance
of the Danish embassy in the Pakistani capital. Among those killed
were a Danish national of Pakistani origin and two of the embassy's
local employees.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi condemned the
attack. 'There can be no justification for such an action,' he said.
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller called the bombing
'completely unacceptable' and suspected al-Qaeda of being behind the
attack.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry confirmed Thursday that a Danish team
had arrived in Islamabad to meet with security officials about the
bombing.
'The delegation comprises diplomats and some technical support
staff,' ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq told reporters, insisting
that the Danish team did not include any investigators.
However, some reports in Copenhagen suggested Tuesday that
officials from military intelligence as well as the security and
intelligence service were dispatched to Pakistan.
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