| Explosive experts defused a bomb Monday in a small van parked next to the heavily guarded U.S. Consulate in this southern Pakistani city, police said. Security guards at the consulate informed police about the van, which was parked close to a perimeter wall of the building, said Mohammed Irfan, a Karachi police official. Police found a water tank in the van that was filled with explosives. The experts disconnected a timer and detonators attached to the tank. "We saved this place from big destruction," Irfan said. The tank held about 200 gallons of a liquid explosive, and police were investigating to determine the type of material, he said. Hundreds of police officers and paramilitary troops cordoned off the area around the consulate in an upscale neighborhood of Karachi. The consulate was closed at the time. |