Posted on 05/11/2002 9:48:45 AM PDT by Dog Gone
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- After the worst attack against foreigners in Pakistan's history, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf Saturday established an anti-terrorist task force to root out criminals operating here, the state-run news agency reported.
More than 400 Islamic militants have been arrested since this week's brutal suicide bombing in Karachi that killed 11 French engineers, two Pakistanis and the suicide bomber, whose identity has not been determined.
Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida and Islamic militants in Pakistan linked to his terrorist network are the leading suspects in the bombing that ripped apart a Pakistan navy bus that was waiting to carry the French engineers to port facilities on the Arabian Sea.
The victims were building a second Agosta submarine, which Pakistan had purchased from France. A memorial service was held in Karachi for the 11 French victims.
Pictures of the slain French engineers were placed upon each of the green coffins outside the hospital. Their colleagues paid respects, some weeping and praying for their slain comrades. The bodies were to be flown to France for burial.
Twenty-three wounded French citizens were taken home on a specially equipped medical-evacuation plane Friday. Eleven Pakistanis were wounded in the attack.
Michel Debacq, the head of the French anti-terrorism section of the state prosecutor's office, was sent to Karachi to help in the search for clues into the suicide bombing, French officials said Saturday.
Debacq will supervise investigators of the DST, France's internal security service, who are working with Pakistani experts in the investigation.
``We cannot afford any laxity,'' the state-run news agency Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Musharraf as saying.
He announced a Forensic Science Agency will be established at the cost of $20 million. Pakistan's current forensic facilities are limited, with only one center to service the entire country. The equipment is antiquated and the staff poorly trained.
According to the APP, Musharraf said, ``We want to curb the menace of terrorism. The staff would be given training in modern skills to track down the culprits involved in such heinous crimes.''
Investigators from the United States, including the FBI, also are assisting in the probe.
The government has already offered a $33,000 reward for the arrest of three men believed to have purchased the vehicle used in the bombing. Sketches of the three men are being circulated.
What a pivotal role this guy is playing in the war on Terrorism. Can you imagine what would happen if Pakistan was under the rule of the Islamic Clerics.
One could read that title in many different ways...
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