Pakistan Probes Assassination Try

A sophisticated bomb containing about 550 pounds of explosive was used in the recent assassination attempt against Pakistan's military leader, officials said Tuesday.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said explosive was planted in five places beneath the two-lane bridge which President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's motorcade passed seconds before the blast happened Sunday evening.

"This was done by very expert men. Such a bomb has never been used in Pakistan before," Ahmed told The Associated Press.

He said investigators haven't identified the type of explosive, and that he did not know the quantity.

But an Interior Ministry official familiar with the investigation said Pakistani army bomb experts estimated about 550 pounds of explosive was used in the bomb — which destroyed a section of a concrete bridge that spans a stream in Rawalpindi.

The official, who declined to be named, gave no details about the type of explosive.

No one was hurt in the attack, at least the second assassination attempt on Musharraf since he took power in a bloodless coup in 1999.

No suspects have been identified, although Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, said the attack was most likely the work of homegrown religious extremists.

Rawalpindi lies about 10 miles from the capital Islamabad. It is home to the army headquarters, Musharraf's residence and an international airport serving the capital.

Ahmed said that although no one has been arrested for the bombing, a number of people who were not facing any serious charges were being questioned.

Earlier officials said seven people were being held, including three police officers who were meant to be on duty at the bridge at the time of the bombing.

The Interior Ministry official said the three officers were still being interrogated. The official declined to say whether the officers had abandoned their posts — although officials did confirm the officers were uninjured by the blast.

"We are moving in the right direction," the official said of the investigation. "We have some leads and clues, but a lot of work is still to be done."

Police were put on alert across Pakistan after the attack, but Musharraf has kept the appearance of normality.

He held talks Monday with the visiting Indonesian president, and he met Tuesday with Pakistan's polo team after it defeated rival India in a World Cup match, and also the new chairman of Pakistan's cricket board.

Both of Tuesday's meetings were held at Musharraf's office in Rawalpindi, an official there said.

Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali has directed the Interior Ministry to review security procedures for VIPs, and instructed the Finance Ministry to immediately release funds to improve the efficiency of law enforcement and security agencies, the state Associated Press of Pakistan reported, without specifying the amount of funds.

Separately, police arrested 10 people suspected of links to the Taliban and al Qaeda in two nighttime raids in Rawalpindi, officials said Tuesday.

The 10 — some of them Afghans — were "involved in unlawful activities" and some weapons were seized, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan and Indonesia agreed on Tuesday to cooperate more in fighting terrorism, the Foreign Ministry said. The Muslim world's two most populous countries, are facing religious extremism and have moved closer in fighting terrorism in recent weeks.

Musharraf angered fundamentalists in 2001 when he became an early supporter of the U.S. war on terrorism, ending Pakistan's traditional alliance with the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan.

In return for his help, President Bush lifted sanctions imposed after Pakistan tested a nuclear bomb in 1998. Congress lifted other sanctions imposed after the 1999 coup in which Musharraf came to power.

The Pakistan military has assisted in the hunt for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, suspected of hiding in the rugged northwest border area. A number of suspected al Qaeda officers, including suspected Sept. 11 planner Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

Mohammed was arrested in March 2003. In September, 2002, another suspected planner of the Sept. 11 attacks, Ramzi Binalshibh, was captured after a gun battle in the southern city of Karachi. In March, 2002, one of bin Laden's top lieutenants, Abu Zubaydah, was arrested in Faisalabad.