Russian president condemns Islamabad terror attack

[bemildred]

Source: Xinhua

MOSCOW, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has condemned the deadly terrorist attack in Islamabad and conveyed condolences to the Pakistani president, the Kremlin said Sunday.

"Resolutely condemning this inhuman act we convey sincere solidarity and support to the people and leaders of Pakistan. I am convinced that the perpetrators of this barbaric act will be found and duly punished," Itar-Tass news agency quoted Medvedev's telegram.

"We reaffirm our readiness to deepen interaction with Pakistan in a bilateral format and in the framework of international efforts to deal with the threat of terrorism," Medvedev said.

According to a statement released Sunday by Pakistan's Interior Ministry, 38 persons, including two foreigners, have been killed in Saturday's suicide attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

Read more: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/21/content_10087467.htm

[bemildred]

1. China condemns hotel suicide bombing in Pakistan

BEIJING, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- China on Sunday condemned the terrorist attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan.

"China opposes terrorism of any kind. As the friendly neighbor and all-weather friend of Pakistan, China will continue to support the unremitting efforts of Pakistan's government and people to maintain stability," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu.

She was responding to a question on the truck bomb outside the Marriott Hotel in central Islamabad that killed at least 60 people and injured more than 200 on Saturday.

She said China expressed heartfelt condolences to the victims of the attack and extended sincere sympathies to the bereaved families and the wounded.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/21/content_10087093.htm

[fascisthunter]

2. my question is: Who's Responsible for this Terrorist Attack?

anyone know who might be suspected?

[undeterred]

3. I have seen two foreign stories saying that US Marines

staying at the hotel were the target of the attack, but western sources are only saying that 2 Americans were killed. No one has "claimed responsibility" as far as I have heard. But there were a huge number of injuries and this is a very big deal.

[fascisthunter]

4. I guess We will Know more in the future

so much is going on at once....

[undeterred]

17. I don't know what to believe any more.

I don't trust our press and I don't trust theirs. Photos that come out quickly seem to be reliable, but who knows what agendas people have.

[undeterred]

13. This is an Islamic source (in English) which claims US marines were the target

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1221720180515&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout

and a Thaindian source which came out earlier:

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/us-marines-may-have-been-target-of-marriot-attack-officials_10097974.html

[ohio2007]

16. Looks like that clears the ISI of any link

snip

Witnessed by many, including MP Mumtaz Alam Gilani of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and his friends, the truckload was taken inside the Marriott Hotel.

"Both gates of the hotel were closed while almost a dozen well-built US Marines in their usual fatigues were unloading the steel boxes from the truck," an eyewitness told IOL on the condition of anonymity.

"No one, including the hotel security men, was either allowed to go near the truck or touch the steel boxes, which were being shifted inside the hotel but without passing through the scanners," he added.

The steel boxes did not go through the scanners installed at the entrance of the hotel lobby and were reportedly shifted to the fourth and fifth floors of the hotel.

MP Gilani had not only witnessed the incident but also protested.

snip
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1221720180515&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout

snip
Police sources said that the dead include three Koreans, two Saudis and one American. Among the injured are some foreigners, including some Americans who were shifted to the hospital inside the US Embassy. Unconfirmed reports also said that a senior US security official was among the injured
snip
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/us-marines-may-have-been-target-of-marriot-attack-officials_10097974.html

curious that
clues as to who did it seem sketchy at this time.

[AlphaCentauri]

7. I would ask: Who is financing those terrorist?

someone had train them with explosives and provide them with materials

[ohio2007]

14. ?

You seriously think funding and training couldn't possibly have any type of Saudi links ?
You should submit your question to the UN so they can address it after they figure out the "genocide or no genocide in Dafur" question.

[bemildred]

5. Indonesia condemns bombing in Pakistan

JAKARTA, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia strongly condemned the bomb attack in Pakistan and expected the terrorist attack will not deflect the ongoing process of democracy in the country, government spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said on Sunday.

Indonesia hoped that the Pakistani government could reveal the case and bring the perpetrators to justice, the spokesman said.

"The Indonesian government strongly condemns the bombings in Marriot Hotel in Pakistan," said Dino.

"We express a deep condolences to the victims, including Pakistanis and foreign citizens," he said.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/21/content_10088237.htm

[bemildred]

6. Egypt slams terrorist attack in Pakistan

CAIRO, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian government on Sunday strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Islamabad that killed dozens of civilians on Saturday evening.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit expressed Egypt's deepest condolences to the victims' families and wished the wounded a speedy recovery.

Abul Gheit said Egypt supports Pakistan in face of violence and terror, adding the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad is following up the situation.

According to a statement released Sunday by Pakistan's Interior Ministry, 38 people, including two foreigners, have been killed in Saturday's suicide attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/21/content_10088247.htm

[bemildred]

8. Bomb a warning to end Pakistan-US cooperation

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — The brazen truck-bombing of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad on Saturday is a warning from Islamic militants to Pakistan's new civilian leadership that it should end already-strained cooperation with the United States to pursue al-Qaida and the Taliban, analysts said.

The massive bomb targeting an American hotel chain killed at least 40 people and wounded hundreds, setting a fire that blazed for hours and gutted most of the five-story luxury hotel.

"The attack on the hotel is a message to the Pakistani leadership: End all cooperation with the Americans or pay the price," said Brian Glyn Williams, associate professor of Islamic history at the University of Massachusetts. "Both sides see Pakistan as a vital battlefield in their global struggle and clearly Pakistani civilians are paying the price for being in the middle of this struggle," he told The Associated Press.

Within hours of the explosion, Pakistan's Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar was quoted on local television channels blaming "foreigners" for the bombing. He pointed the finger at al Qaida and its Chechen and Uzbek members, whose hideouts in the tribal regions have been targeted by the Pakistan military.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5incqsuio3N_1TKqzaDwdQIfqYboAD93AU5LO0

[bemildred]

9. Two Americans killed in Pakistan bombing: Pentagon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two members of the U.S. armed forces were killed in the suicide bomb attack that killed more than 50 people at the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital, the Defense Department said on Sunday.

The two, assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, died from wounds received in the Saturday bombing, the department said in a statement.

It said the names of the two were being withheld until their families were notified.

Pakistani officials said the suicide bombing bore the hallmarks of an operation by al Qaeda or an affiliate.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2150256220080921

[bemildred]

10. Czech ambassador among 53 dead in bombing of Pakistan Marriott

ISLAMABAD: Rescuers pulled more bodies from the shell of the truck-bombed Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital Sunday, pushing the death toll from one of the country's worst-ever terrorist strikes to 53, including the Czech ambassador.

The hotel, a favorite spot for foreigners and the Pakistani elite - and a past target of militants - still smoldered from a fire that raged for hours after the previous day's explosion, which also wounded more than 250 people.

The targeting of the American hotel chain came at a time of growing anger in the Muslim nation over a wave of cross-border strikes on militant bases in Pakistan by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, though suspicion fell on Al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban. Analysts said the attack served as a warning from Islamic militants to Pakistan's new civilian leadership to stop cooperating with the U.S.-led fight against terrorism.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/21/asia/pakistan.php

[bemildred]

11. Six Britons injured in Pakistan hotel bombing

LONDON (AFP) — Six Britons were among the hundreds of people injured in the deadly blast which tore through the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, killing at least 60 people, the Foreign Office confirmed on Sunday.

Three of them were said to work for the British High Commission in Islamabad.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the blast, which gutted the prestigious hotel in the heart of the Pakistani capital, in an attack is widely believed to be the work of Al-Qaeda.

Speaking to Sky News in Manchester, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that Saturday's bombing was "completely inexcusable".

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5icMUiF5_joUoJNIlpvwyeqqT5BWw

[ohio2007]

12. ISI blames Al-Qaeda for hotel bombing

Pakistan blames Al-Qaeda for hotel bombing

Pakistan on Sunday blamed Al-Qaeda linked Taliban militants for the massive suicide truck bombing at the Marriott Hotel that killed at least 60 people and injured more than 260.
Dramatic footage of Saturday night's attack showed the carnage could have been far worse, but the attacker failed to get through a secondary barrier when he crashed his explosives-laden truck into the hotel's security gates.

The interior ministry said the truck was packed with 600 kilos (1,300 pounds) of explosives, and pointed a finger at Taliban militants allied with Al-Qaeda who are based in the remote areas along the border with Afghanistan.


"All roads lead to Fata," ministry official Rehman Mailk told a news conference, using the acronym for the rugged tribal areas that have become a safe-haven for militants despite an army campaign to root them out.

snip
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080921133429.x2ls83ez&show_article=1

How did the interior minister arrive at such a rounded # ?

finger pointing is starting before investigation starts


early video release with audio attached
http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=178793
first responder 'pisses' on the flames and then gets out of the way.

[bemildred]

15. The authorities have a choice of being complicit or being negligent.

There will be a great deal of blame shifting and responsibility avoiding going on, and not just in Pakistan. It's a bit early to say, but this has a good shot to spread the war in Afghanistan into Pakistan, with a number of other possible consequences: civil war in Pakistan, the rise of a new Pashtun state, the Balochis deciding to make their move, which would annoy Iran, etc.

WB Yeats - The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?