 A suspected Islamic militant, wanted in connection with making a car bomb used in a suicide attack three years ago that killed 15 people, including 11 French engineers, was arrested Thursday after a shootout, police said. Mufti Mohammed Sabir was arrested near a bus terminal after arriving from Rawalpindi, a city near the capital of Islamabad, Police Chief Tariq Jameel told a news conference.
| I wonder if he's an actual mufti, or if that's just his personal name... |
Sabir tried to flee and fired a pistol at police before he was arrested. Police returned fire but no one was hurt, Jameel said.
| Typical islamic marksmanship |
| Explains why RAB never seems to get the miscreants' accomplices, doesn't it? |
| Easier to shoot them in the back of the head if they're tied down and not squirming so ... |
Police seized explosives, other bomb-making materials, several rounds of AK-47 ammunition and two rocket shells from a bag that Sabir was allegedly carrying.
| Coming back from an elk hunt? |
| "Are ya happy to see me or is that two rocket shells in yer bag?" |
Sabir is believed to be a bomb maker and is suspected to have packed a car with explosives that were detonated in front of Karachi's Sheraton Hotel on May 8, 2002, killing the French nationals and four other people. The Frenchmen were helping to build a submarine for Pakistan's navy. A month later, another suicide bomber blew up a truck outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, killing 14 Pakistanis.
| Is Sabir implicated? Or did you just notice that something else blew up around the same time? |
Sabir, in his 30s, is alleged to belong to the outlawed Harkat Jihad-e-Islami militant group. A Karachi court has sentenced three other suspected group members to death for the Sheraton bombing. At least two more suspects remain at large, Jameel said. Karachi is believed to be a hotbed for Islamic militants blamed for terrorist attacks in the port city since President Gen. Pervez Musharraf allied Pakistan with Washington in the war on terrorism.
| "Believed to be"? Karachi? Islamic militants? This is "believed to be" Rantburg. Today's "believed to be" Thursday. I'm "believed to be" fat. (Where do they get these people?) |
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