Pakistan Arrests Bomb Mastermind

The government announced the arrest Wednesday of a Pakistani suspected of masterminding the deadliest terrorist attack on foreigners in Pakistan this year — the May 8 car bombing that killed 11 French engineers and three others.

The government statement said the man, whom it did not identify, was among seven Pakistanis seized in raids throughout Karachi, in which police also seized a large quantity of weapons.

"One of the apprehended terrorists is suspected to have masterminded the attack on a bus near the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi" in which the French engineers and three other people died, a government statement said. The car bomber was among the dead.

A senior police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the man as "Sharib" and said he was also believed involved in the June 14 car-bombing at the U.S. Consulate here and two attempts to kill President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Twelve Pakistanis were killed in the consulate attack.

Some of the arrests were made near a Karachi convention center where Musharraf visited on Tuesday, the official told The Associated Press.

All those arrested were believed to be members of an offshoot of the al-Qaida-linked extremist group Harkat-ul-Mujahdeen, one of the major militant organizations fighting Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

The announcement followed the arrest last week in Karachi of about a dozen al-Qaida suspects, most believed to be Yemenis. They included a key organizer of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States, Ramzi Binalshibh.

He and four others were handed over to U.S. custody Monday and flown out of the country. The arrests prompted Musharraf to declare that security forces "have broken the terrorist network" in Pakistan.

The May car bombing led to an exodus of foreign diplomats, businessmen and their families from Pakistan's largest city.

The French victims were engineers at France's state-owned naval construction service who were building a second Agosta submarine Pakistan purchased from France. They were preparing to board a bus to go to work when the car-bomb exploded.

The New Zealand and Pakistani cricket teams canceled a five-day match which was to have opened in Karachi. The teams were staying in a hotel across the street from the Sheraton.

Suspicion fell on Islamic extremists seeking revenge for Musharraf's decision to abandon support for the Afghan Taliban and back the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

There was also suspicion that al-Qaida fugitives may have been involved, in part because of the sophistication of the bomb and because Pakistani extremist groups had no history of suicide attacks.

Western and Pakistani security officials believe al-Qaida operatives fleeing Afghanistan linked up with Pakistani extremists to stage attacks against foreigners and Pakistani leaders.

Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen, or Movement of Holy Warriors, was among 27 groups and individuals whose assets were frozen by the United States, Pakistan and other countries after the Sept. 11 attacks.

During the U.S. bombing campaign against the Taliban last year, Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen announced that 22 of its fighters were killed in a U.S. air raid on Kabul in October.

Those arrested Wednesday were said to be members of the offshoot Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen Al-Alami. Three members of that faction are on trial for the U.S. Consulate bombing. Five other members were arrested this month in what police said was an attempt to kill Musharraf at an April 27 public ceremony in Karachi.

The plan went awry when Musharraf showed up three hours late for the event, the investigators said. Five others from the same group were arrested last week for allegedly planning terrorist attacks on American fast-food restaurants in Pakistan.