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| Al-Qaeda, TTP behind Marriott blast: Malik |
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Monday, September 22, 2008
Turns down FBI offer to help probe incident; CCTV camera footage shows moments before deadly explosion
By Mobarik A Virk & Shakeel Anjum
ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik put the blame for the deadly suicide attack outside the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad on Saturday on al-Qaeda and the banned militant organisation Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
"This incident has similarities with the attack on the ISI's Hamza Camp as well as with the two loaded vehicles caught from D I Khan, and with the blast outside the Danish embassy. The explosives used in this blast matched those of earlier explosions," Rehman Malik told the media at a press conference that he addressed in the Interior Ministry late on Sunday afternoon.
To a question, he said there were strong bases for suspecting the involvement of al-Qaeda and the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban, Pakistan of Baitullah Mehsud, as in almost all such cases investigated in the past or the confessions made by the would-be suicide bombers or their handlers who were arrested by the security agencies, all clues pointed to Fata. When asked whether the preliminary investigations led to any clue connecting al-Qaeda and TTP to this incident, the adviser on interior said there was ample evidence to connect the two with Saturday's deadly suicide attack in the federal capital.
"We have arrested a number of suicide bombers and their handlers. They are not connected with this particular case. But most of them have revealed that they belonged to the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban and had links with South Waziristan," Malik said.
When it was pointed out that in the past both al-Qaeda as well as the TTP had always been quick in claiming responsibility for carrying out such attacks, the adviser on interior said such things were done to divert the attention of the investigators.
"If you may recall the al-Qaeda claim about the Danish embassy blast came after one month. Whenever we will find something related to this, we will not keep it hidden, we will bring it to the public," Rehman Malik promised.
He said the high-level inquiry committee headed by the Director-General of the FIA -- with the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad, the Additional Director-General, FIA, superintendent of police of Islamabad and the explosive experts as its members -- was supposed to submit its findings to the prime minister within 24 hours.
"The explosives expert in this committee, however, has submitted his report within 16 hours and on the basis of his past experience he has disclosed that the explosive material was high quality RDX and TNT. Earlier, in most of the cases potassium chloride, made of the fertiliser, was used. But this explosive material is of military type.
"We have recovered splinters of mortar shells and artillery rounds as well. There was one additional item seen this time and that was aluminium powder. It accelerates fire when it is mixed with the explosive material. So when these shells blew out and hit the Marriott Hotel it became a chemical that spread the fire fast and could not be extinguished," the Adviser on Interior said.
The News had access to the contents of the report submitted by the explosives expert in the Inquiry Committee. According to it RDX and TNT were used in the suicide attack on the Marriott Hotel.
The report pointed out that RDX is the specific formula being used by al-Qaeda and Baitullah Mehsud, substantiating the suspicions that it was a 'joint venture' between the two. "There is no doubt that Baitullah Mahsud and al-Qaeda were jointly involved in the catastrophic vehicular attack," the experts opined in the report.
The report mentioned that pieces of mortars and long-range artillery shells were found from the epicentre. A piece of mortar was found 84 meters away from the epicentre, the report added.
The experts calculated that 600-kilogram power high quality explosive material was used in the suicide attack, leaving a crater measuring 24 feet deep and 59x63 feet in diameter, the report said.
The investigators of SIG said that two explosions occurred in the same vehicle one after the other, adding that the first blast occurred when the suicide bomber blew himself up soon after ramming the truck into the main gate but could not ignite the explosive material loaded in the back of the vehicle.
"The second disastrous blast occurred when the fire caused in the cabin of the dumper because of the first explosion gradually travelled to the back of the truck and ignited the RDX and TNT, packed with artillery and mortar bombs about four minutes after the first blast," the report added.
"The trigger mechanism of the suicide bomber was not properly linked with the explosive material," the expert said in the report. "The second and the ruinous blast could have been averted if the security officials had acted promptly and doused the fire that started in the cabin of the dumper after the suicide bomber blew himself up," the report said.
The expert said in his report that the disastrous damage to life and property was the result of the 'detonation waves' which scattered with the power of one ton per square inch when the molecules broke up, creating a temperature of 4,000 degrees centigrade during burning, adding, "it was collateral damage."
Meanwhile, the official death toll in the Marriott Hotel suicide blast has climbed to 53 after 10 more bodies were pulled out of the gutted structure.The five-star hotel was completely gutted after the suicide blast in which 53 people were killed and 255 others injured including 21 foreigners. Five women were also among the dead while 70 injured, said to be in critical condition, were also shifted to hospitals.
An American team including explosive experts visited the scene and also collected evidences from the epicentre. However, during the press conference by the adviser on interior when it was asked if the Pakistan Government would take advantage of the US offer to send an FBI team to help in investigations, Rehman Malik said that Pakistan had turned down the offer. "We don't need any help at the moment. We reject it. We have our forces that are competent enough and can take the investigations onward," he said.
Reuters adds: The video footage of the incident was released showing the last moments before the blast. "The truck was stopped at the barrier and there was an altercation between the attacker and the guards," said Rehman Malik.
"A doctor was on an emergency call and was standing behind the truck. He asked the guards to remove the truck so that he could drive in to attend a patient," Malik continued. Sniffer dogs then detected something wrong and guards shouted at the people to run.
The footage showed the truck driver tried to ram the retractable metal barrier and bar at the security checkpoint at the entrance to the hotel's forecourt and parking area.
Some accounts given earlier had suggested that there had been an exchange of fire between the truck driver and the security guards on duty, but that wasn't clearly evident from the closed circuit television images.
Most of the guards retreated when the truck tried to ram the barrier.What happened next appeared to have been a small explosion in the cabin. Flames were seen spreading from the front to the rear of the hydraulic dumper truck as cars passed by on the road behind.
After the explosion some guards moved in before retreating once again, and finally one came back with a fire extinguisher, but failed to make an impression on the blaze. Then the screen turned blue, presumably as the final explosion let rip, killing immediate bystanders. Other victims were felled by flying glass and from the subsequent fire that swept through the building.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
