Pakistan probes Taliban link to Marriott bombing

ISLAMABAD: Investigators probing a suicide blast at a top hotel in Pakistan's capital said on Saturday they are looking at links to pro-Taliban extremists fighting government forces near the Afghan border.

Police said they were examining the head, a leg and an arm of the bomber who detonated explosives strapped to his body when he was prevented from entering the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, killing a security guard.

"Experts are examining the few remains of the bomber's body to identify him," said the interior ministry crisis management cell's chief Brigadier Javed Cheema.

Cheema said a sketch of the bomber, who appeared to be in his 20s, was being prepared with the help of witnesses who saw him trying to get into the hotel, which is popular with foreigners and located near government buildings.

"We suspect the attack to be by militants opposed to the government's drive against Taliban elements in the tribal regions," a senior security official said.

The official said the bomber appeared to be ill-trained and poorly briefed, with poor intelligence about the hotel, which suggested he was from the northwestern tribal belt rather than being affiliated to better-funded sectarian groups. 

"The door where he tried to enter is locked from inside and there is security in front of it. Even if the guard had not stopped him, it would not have been possible for the bomber to enter the premises," the official said.

The pattern of the bombing closely resembled suicide bombings in Afghanistan, where scores of such attacks last year blamed on the Taliban did not cause widespread damage and killed mostly the bombers, he added.

President Pervez Musharraf condemned the suicide attack on the hotel and said it would not affect the unwavering commitment of the government to root out terrorism and extremism from the country.

Pakistan is under pressure to curb Taliban activities in its tribal zone bordering Afghanistan. 

Afghanistan says the Taliban uses the area to recruit and train fighters for cross-border attacks on Afghan, NATO-led and US forces. 

Kabul has also accused the Pakistani government and intelligence services of backing the insurgency, which claimed around 4,000 lives in 2006, the deadliest year since US-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001.

Pakistan denies the charges. It says it has deployed 80,000 troops in the tribal region to hunt down the militants, with nearly 1,000 insurgents and 700 soldiers killed in the fighting since 2002.