Islamabad
08 July 2008
Pakistan's government is denying it played a role in Monday's suicidebomb attack on India's embassy in Afghanistan. But Afghan officialssay it is "pretty obvious" who was behind the attack. VOA's BarryNewhouse reports from Islamabad.
A day after a massivesuicide car bomb attack killed more than 40 people and wounded scoresmore outside India's diplomatic mission in Kabul, a spokesman forPresident Hamid Karzai said investigators believe that a foreignintelligence agency was behind it.
Humayun Hamidzada said thatalthough the investigation is still continuing, officials believe theyalready have evidence that the attack had significant foreign support.
"Thesophistication of this attack and the kind of material that was used init and the specific targeting - everything has the hallmark of aparticular intelligence agency that has conducted similar terroristacts inside Afghanistan in the past," he said.
InJune, Afghan officials accused Pakistan's spy agency of being directlyinvolved in April's assassination attempt against President Karzai. But at a news conference in Kabul, Hamidzada refused to directly blamePakistan in the bombing targeting its historical rival India.
"Webelieve firmly that there is a particular intelligence agency behindit. I am not going to name it anymore. I think it is pretty obvious," he said.
Pakistaniofficials have strongly denied the government was involved in theKarzai assassination attempt or the Indian embassy bombing. The headof Pakistan's Interior Ministry, Rehman Malik, told a group ofreporters in Islamabad that no part of the government played any rolein the bombing.
Hesaid Pakistan does not involve itself in such acts because it is not inits interest. He said that for Pakistanis, a safe Afghanistan is aguarantee for a safe Pakistan.
Pakistan's top intelligenceagency, called the ISI, had fostered close ties with Afghanistan'sTaliban government until 2001. Pakistan officially turned against itsally before the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. Since then Pakistanhas been praised as a partner in the war against terrorism.
Butin recent years, continuing attacks by Taliban militants in Afghanistanand Pakistan have strained relations between the two countries andraised questions about whether Pakistan's intelligence agency truly cutall ties with its former Taliban allies.