Denmark blames al-Qaeda for embassy bombing

Wednesday, June 4, 2008 

On Monday, June 2, the Danish embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, was attacked with a car bomb. The bomb went off in the parking lot of the embassy at around 12:10 pm (UTC+5), killing at least six and wounding at least 30 others. One Danish citizen was killed.

The controversial page which was in a 2005 edition of Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten.

"I think we can say with a reasonable degree of confidence that it was a suicide attack," said Tariq Pervez, the director-general of the Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The bomb forced the closure of the Danish embassy, as well as those of Norway and the Netherlands, which were nearby.

	I urge and incite every Muslim who can harm Denmark to do so in support of the prophet
—Ayman al-Zawahiri

While no group has claimed responsibility, the Danish national security intelligence agency PET has concluded that al-Qaeda was behind the attack. "Extremists can be inspired by the attack in Pakistan," said PET's director, Jakob Scharf in a statement.

"We are just trying to find any clue, any evidence," Pakistani investigator Muhammad Mustafa said to the Associated Press. "You know yesterday it was panic here. Usually we miss important things in panic."

"Samples have been sent to the laboratory to determine what type of explosive was used," said Mohammad Ashraf Shah, who is in charge of the investigation. Investigators have found that the car with the bomb was a Toyota Corolla, which bore diplomatic license plates.

"One can of course only condemn it, it's terrible that terrorists commit such acts," said Per Stig Møller, the Foreign Minister of Denmark, on TV 2 television.

"It was to be expected that they would do something," said Ikram Sehgal to Reuters, referring to Ayman al-Zawahiri's recent video encouraging attacks against Denmark over the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.

"I urge and incite every Muslim who can harm Denmark to do so in support of the prophet, God's peace and prayers be upon him, and in defense of his honorable stature," Ayman al-Zawahri said in a video which became public on April 21.

"This attack was not linked to any event in the country or the region, rather it was part of widespread outrage throughout the Islamic world against publishing blasphemous caricatures," a local official told Daily Times, adding that it would not affect Pakistani negotiations with "local" Taliban, which is considered separate from the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Sources

• "‘Taliban may have carried out embassy blast over caricatures’" — Daily Times (Pakistan), June 4, 2008
• Lars Henrik Aagaard. "Terroristen kørte på danske diplomatplader" — Berlingske Tidende, June 4, 2008 (Danish)
• Saeed Shah. "At least six killed in Danish embassy blast" — The Globe and Mail, June 3, 2008
• Associated Press. "Denmark: Al-Qaeda 'likely' behind embassy attack" — USA Today, June 3, 2008
• "Pakistan blast site probe begins" — BBC News Online, June 3, 2008
• Augustine Anthony. "Deadly Pakistan embassy bomb raises security fears" — Reuters, June 3, 2008
• "Den dræbte var bosat i Pakistan" — Danmarks Radio, June 3, 2008 (Danish)
• Gelu Sulugiuc. "Denmark condemns embassy attack in Pakistan" — Reuters, June 2, 2008