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21 Foreigners Among Dead in Islamabad Suicide Bomb Blast
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Security and political analysts in Pakistan said the carefully planned bombing, the worst terror attack in the capital, could force the government to prove it is serious about combating terrorism or admit defeat.
"If they don't rise to this challenge, they are finished," said Talat Masood, a retired army general and defense analyst here. "I am not sure they have the capacity to take on such determined militants. To those who call this America's war, the government must make absolutely clear that this is Pakistan's war and how it plans to meet the challenge."
Zardari left Pakistan on Sunday for the United States, where he will address the United Nations and meet with President Bush. Several hours before the bombing, Zardari gave his first speech to Parliament, calling terrorism a disease and saying the government sought to free the country from its grip.
The United States and Pakistan have collaborated closely in the war against terrorism. But their relations have soured in recent weeks after a series of U.S. military operations in Pakistan's northwest tribal areas, including airstrikes and a commando raid, that have aroused protests from the public and the military.
"This attack is a payback to the new Pakistani government for its alliance with the U.S.," said Rifaat Hussain, a defense expert at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. "It is a direct challenge to the writ of the state, a message that they have lethal reach and can strike any target of their choosing."
Malik said the government had refused an offer from the FBI to help investigate the bombing, adding that Pakistani agencies were capable of doing the job alone.
Although Malik appeared to blame Mehsud's local Taliban movement, which seeks to impose a strict interpretation of Islamic law in the tribal region, other Pakistani officials said "foreign" fighters were to blame, suggesting an al-Qaeda connection.
Gillani, speaking in the city of Lahore on Sunday, said that "tribals are patriotic" and that the terrorist threat to Pakistan comes from "a few foreign people." Pakistani officials and journalists have reported that Chechens, Uzbeks and other foreigners are among those fighting against government forces.
Constable reported from Kabul.
