The motivation behind the atrocity seems yet to reveal. Here is another report from Bloomberg.
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Bloomberg.com: Asia
Pakistani Leaders Narrowly Avoided Marriott Bomb (Update1)
By Paul Tighe and James Rupert
Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's government leaders scheduled a dinner at the Marriott Hotel two days ago for the time that the hotel was bombed, though they moved the event shortly beforehand, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said.
``The national assembly speaker had arranged a dinner for the entire leadership -- for the president, prime minister and armed services chiefs -- at the Marriott that day,'' Malik told reporters today in Islamabad, the capital. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ordered the dinner moved to the prime minister's residence, ``thus the whole leadership was saved,'' Malik said.
The planners of the suicide truck bombing aimed to wipe out the Pakistani leadership, Gilani told the state news agency, Associated Press of Pakistan. The Czech ambassador, two U.S. citizens and a Vietnamese woman were among 53 people the government says were killed by the bomb, the government said.
Malik told reporters yesterday the government had received a general warning of a possible terrorist attack, and Gilani said security was tighter at his residence than at the hotel.
Neither official said specifically that warnings of an attack had led to the dinner being shifted.
While the government hasn't blamed any group for the bombing, Malik said investigations of previous attacks ``have led to South Waziristan and to Tehrik-i-Taliban,'' the main Pakistani Taliban movement.
The truck, carrying more than 600 kilograms (1,300 pounds) of explosives smashed into the hotel's security gate and blew up several hours after Zardari gave his first presidential speech to parliament. He called for Pakistan's fight against terrorism to emphasize economic improvements in ethnic Pashtun western regions dominated by Taliban guerrillas, and said military force should be used only when necessary.
Assaults on Taliban
The U.S. has pressed Pakistan to step up military assaults on the Taliban, who also are battling U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and this month U.S. forces have intensified their own attacks in western Pakistan.
The 290-room Marriott, located 1 kilometer (0.6 of a mile) from Pakistan's Parliament, presidency and ministries, was hit by bombs in 2004 and 2007.
Security forces have been attacking militants in the tribal regions in recent weeks, including offensives in the Bajaur area that killed more than 700 fighters since August, the military said last week.
The government has put pressure on terrorists and the Marriott bombing may be a result of their frustration, Gilani said, according to APP.
Poverty, Illiteracy
Poverty, illiteracy and a lack of basic amenities are contributing to extremism and that is why the government has adopted its strategy in the tribal areas, he said.
South Waziristan is the stronghold of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, whose guerrillas fight U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Pakistan says Mehsud is a senior al-Qaeda figure and blames him for suicide bombings, including the December assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
The CIA said this year Waziristan has become a new base for al-Qaeda. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack two days ago. The previous suicide car bombing in Islamabad, against the Danish embassy in June, was claimed by al-Qaeda.
The attackers at the Marriott tried to smash the truck through the hotel's entry barricades, security camera footage released by the government showed. The truck, loaded with at least 600 kilograms (1,300 pounds) of explosive, swerved into the gates and burned for several minutes before detonating.
Security Gates
The gates kept the truck from entering the compound and causing more casualties, Malik said at a news conference in Islamabad yesterday.
Malik rebuffed a U.S. offer of FBI help in the investigation. ``We reject it,'' he said. ``Our agencies are quite competent.''
The attack came hours after Zardari pledged to resist recent incursions into Waziristan and other border areas by U.S. forces in Afghanistan battling Mehsud and his allies. Zardari spoke in his first speech to Parliament since succeeding Pervez Musharraf on Sept. 9.
President George W. Bush vowed to ``fully support the democratically elected government of Pakistan and the Pakistani people as they face enormous challenges economically as well as from terrorism,'' in his condemnation of the attack.
Bush is to meet with Zardari tomorrow during the United Nations General Assembly session in New York.
Separately, one person was killed and an Afghan diplomat was kidnapped as gunmen attacked an Afghan consulate in Pakistan, Sky News said in a report today, citing Reuters.
To contact the reporters on this story: Paul Tighe in Sydney at
ptighe@bloomberg.net; James Rupert in Islamabad
jrupert3@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: September 22, 2008 07:43 EDT