Danish embassy bombed in protest at cartoons

Suspected militants have again brought death and destruction to Pakistan's capital - detonating a massive car bomb outside the Danish Embassy that killed at least six people and wounded 35 others. The attack - the second against a foreign target in the last three months - is believed to have been carried out by extremists angered by the publication of drawings of the prophet Mohammed in Danish newspapers earlier this year.

The blast echoed across the city at around 1pm, smashing the windows of houses and cars in many of the streets in the wealthy neighbourhood where the embassy is located. The boundary wall of the building and its balcony were left badly damaged, with charred masonry strewn outside the entrance amid broken glass, leaves stripped off now naked trees and small pools of blood.

Investigators at the scene of yesterday's attack said that the car had been carrying around

20kg of explosives, but did not say if it was a suicide attack. Picking through a four foot deep black crater in the centre of the narrow street with the smell of explosive materials still hanging in the air, they recovered parts of a sedan, whose engine had flown into a house in the next street.

"I heard a loud, deafening bang," said Javed Iqbal, who works at a house nearby. "It shook everything like an earthquake. Then there were people screaming." Pointing above the offices of a development agency, where cars lay in a crushed heap under a mangled steel frame, he added: "The trees there had caught fire, and there was

a cloud of black smoke that rose from [where the crater is] into the air – nearly a mile high."

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack which came after

weeks of threatening calls made to the Danish embassy. It is the second time that foreigners have been targeted in Islamabad since March. That month, a smaller device went off at an Italian restaurant popular with foreigners in the same neighbourhood, injuring five FBI officials and one Scotland Yard detective. In this instance, no Westerners were hurt.

Denmark once again became the focus for hostile attention from Pakistan's religious right after the republication of the cartoons in February. Religious parties demonstrated on the streets of Karachi, and vast billboards urging a boycott of the country appeared in the centre of Lahore. The cartoons were originally published in 2005, triggering huge controversy and riots across the Muslim world.

Last night Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen called the bombing an attack against Denmark, adding: "Denmark will not alter its policy because of a terror attack. We will not give in to terrorists."

The identity of the culprits was much in dispute. Bob Venzke, head of a US-based group that monitors al-Qa'ida, pointed to the terror group, citing a video threat inciting attacks on Danish targets issued in April by Ayman al-Zawahiri, the group's second-in-command.

Talat Masood, a retired general turned security analyst, said: "In all probability, it is one the many groups that were threatening the embassy for some time? It is not necessarily the case that it was the work of militants in Waziristan."

What is certainly clear is that the blast has added to the challenges facing the new coalition government, formed in the aftermath of February's elections. The administration recently signed a string of peace deals with militants in the Swat valley and the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan from where countless attacks on the army, the police and government buildings are suspected to have been launched. Washington and Nato commanders in Afghanistan have spoken out against the ceasefire, arguing that it will lead to a surge in attacks across the border.

Another key issue for the government, led by the Pakistan's People's Party (PPP), concerns the restoration of those members of the judiciary ousted by President Pervez Musharraf last year. Last month the PPP's partner, the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) headed by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, withdrew his ministers from the government in dispute over the return of the judges, but said would support the government on a case by case basis. Next week, a planned march by lawyers will likely put further pressure on the government to restore the ousted judges immediately.

All the while there remains great uncertainty over the future of Mr Musharraf. Last week Islamabad was beset by rumours that he was set to step down and leave the country following a late night meeting with the head of the country's armed forces. The president's office was forced to issue a statement insisting that he was not leaving. At the same time, his political opponents within the parliament are poised to pass legislation that would greatly reduce many of his powers. In such circumstances, many believe it may only be a matter of time before he stands down rather than facing such humiliation.

Interesting? Click here to explore further