Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the people of India to assess whether going by its track record Bharatiya Janata Party is capable of forming a decisive and strong...
Showing posts with label terrorism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label terrorism. Show all posts
Not taking any chances after the 26/11 terror strikes in Mumbai, multinational companies, embassies and UN bodies are independently reviewing security of luxury hotels before making reservations for their high-profile clients in India.
Security experts posted in embassies here and UN organisations are preparing similar reports to ensure maximum safety of their officials and guests.
"After the attack, especially on Trident and Taj hotels, many representatives, especially from Bangalore, came to check our security measures. Not just them but even officials from the US embassy, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other multilateral bodies conducted a similar survey in our hotel," said Akhil Mathur, spokesman of the Le Meridien hotel here.
"Many were concerned about exit routes in the event of an emergency and of the safety measures in place for guests in the hotel. Since we have paid enough attention and tightened our security further, they were pleased," Mathur added.
Industry and intelligence sources told IANS that this is the first time that security heads and representatives of various multinational organisations have undertaken such a task of preparing independent reports detailing "secure" and "safe" hotels across the country.
"One of the reasons why some high-profile guests or VIPs do not stay in the Oberoi or The Lalit is because their escape routes are not satisfactory. There is a flyover across the road which many consider an impediment in the event of an emergency," said a top hotelier.
Work is under way to prepare a list of luxury hotels where top corporate honchos who often travel to India for business meetings can be put up without risk to their lives.
"We took this painstaking exercise in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attack," a security head of an international bank, which has 3,000 employees on its rolls, told IANS.
"Fortunately our board of directors and senior management had left the Taj and the Oberoi hotels just minutes before the militants stormed the hotels and began firing indiscriminately."
On Nov 26, a 10-member suicide squad, allegedly belonging to the Lashker-e-Taiba, attacked the Taj Mahal Hotel near the landmark Gateway of India and the nearby Oberoi-Trident hotel among a host of other spots in south Mumbai.
At least 170 people, including 22 foreigners were killed. The hotels suffered extensive damage.
"Foreigners were obviously scared after the attacks. Some visiting India have gone the extra mile to do reconnaissance missions of hotels for sheer safety," said a UN official.
One particular security head working in an MNC, who did not wanted to be named, said he had personally visited and reviewed security of at least 40 hotels all across the country.
"During my visits, I checked their contingency plans and level of alertness. To my satisfaction I found each and every hotel either had hired security consultants or were in the process of hiring them."
Many hotels in the country are spending huge amounts to install state-of-the-art gadgets and hi-tech equipment for ramping up security in their premises.
The Pakistan-based Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD), which has been branded a terrorist group by the UN, is writing to the global body to clarify that it has no links with terrorism and the Pakistani government began investigations against it only on the basis of "Indian propaganda", its chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed said.
Acceding to Indian and US requests in the aftermath of the Nov 26 Mumbai terror attacks, the UN Security Council Wednesday declared JuD, the front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a terrorist group. Four top LeT leaders, including Saeed, have also been branded global terrorists.
However, BBC Urdu website quoted Saeed as saying in an interview that he never headed the LeT. He added that although he was once arrested by the government, he was let off after JuD proved that he had nothing to do with the LeT.
The other LeT leaders whom the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee has branded global terrorists are Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Haji Muhammad Ashraf and Mahmood Muhammad Ahmed.
While insisting that none of the "LeT office holders are members of JuD", Saeed said: "India has failed to provide any evidence of LeT involvement in the Mumbai attacks."
Asked about LeT offices and camps in Pakistan, Saeed said all LeT offices were closed in 2002 after the ban on the organisation.
"Presently, there are no offices or camps (of LeT) in Pakistan," he said.
He said India was pressurising Pakistan through propaganda, adding: "The Pakistani government should investigate the allegations and clear the situation. LeT has already denied all the allegations."
Saeed said that previously India was accusing LeT of the Mumbai attacks but this week its envoy in the UN demanded restrictions on JuD. He demanded that Indian authorities provide evidence of the involvement of either of the two groups in the Mumbai attacks, which left over 170 people dead.
Declaring that the JuD will challenge the sanctions imposed on it in all forums, Saeed said his group will write to the UN explaining that it has no involvement in any terrorist activity.
When asked what he would do if India presented any evidence against JuD, Saeed said in that case his group will abide by the decision of the government of Pakistan.
He said all JuD offices in Pakistani Kashmir and other parts of the country were working as usual and the recent raids in Kashmir were on LeT.
"Pakistan army and security agencies are conducting these raids and they are in a better position to tell you against whom they are taking these actions," he added.
When asked about media reports that one of the Mumbai attackers had visited the JuD office in Muridke, Saeed said he had never met him.
"I have seen a media report that I met him for the first time in Dubai whereas I have never been to Dubai," he added.
Indo-Asian News Service
India Tuesday indicated it was keeping all options open, including a military strike against terrorist camps in Pakistan and suspension of bilateral dialogue, and underlined that it will take "appropriate action" to protect its territory from terror attacks emanating from the neighbouring country.
"We will await the response from Pakistan to the demarche (formal protest note)," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters here on the sidelines of a function to inaugurate the India-Arab Forum Tuesday morning.
"We have in our demarche asked for the arrests and handing over of those persons who are settled in Pakistan and who are fugitives under the Indian law," he added.
"There are lists (containing the names) of about 20 persons. (These) lists are sometimes altered and this exercise is going on and we have reviewed it in our demarche," Mukherjee said.
"What I am saying is every sovereign country has its right to protect its territorial integrity and take appropriate action as and when it feels it is necessary to take that appropriate action," Mukherjee later told the NDTV news channel in an interview.
"As and when it takes place you will get to know. Nobody publicises or advertises it. I am not making any comment on military option," he replied when asked whether he would rule out military option against terrorist groups like the Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) which are suspected to have engineered the Mumbai terror strikes.
"What will be done, time will show and you will come to know," Mukherjee said.
India's "most wanted 20" list includes known terror masterminds like mob boss Dawood Ibrahim, Maulana Masood Azhar, the founder of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) which was suspected behind the Dec 13, 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, and LeT chief Hafez Mohammed Sayeed.
New Delhi has suspected these fugitives to be behind major terror strikes in India over the years.
India has, however, not set a time-frame for Pakistan to the demarche it issued Monday that included the return of India's 20 most wanted men, the dismantling of terrorist camps and the proscription of anti-India militant outfits.
"We have not set a time-frame for Pakistan's response to our demarche. We will give them a reasonable amount of time," a senior official said on condition of anonymity.
"All options are open. Nothing has been decided as yet," he replied when asked what steps India will take in case Pakistan refuses to concede to its demands.
Pakistan has responded by offering India a joint team to probe the Mumbai attacks and underlined it will "frame a response" to New Delhi's demand for handing over 20 of India's most wanted men.
But India has cold-shouldered what it sees a diversionary ploy by Pakistan to impress the international community about its sincerity. "We want action on the ground," the official said.
The bilateral composite dialogue process has not been stalled yet, but if Pakistan fails to address India's concerns, New Delhi may decide to suspend the talks on the remaining items in the ongoing fifth round, said reliable sources, privy to the government's thinking on the subject.
"There is a stress on the dialogue process. The atmosphere has been vitiated by the Mumbai attacks," the official admitted.
The menu of likely actions by India in case of Pakistan's refusal to act on the ground could include military action. But this last resort action is not being considered yet. "You can't rule out anything. We will cross the bridge when it comes to it," the official said.
Investigations have disclosed that the Nov 26 Mumbai terror strikes bore the imprint of LeT, a banned militant outfit.
The probe has produced enough damning evidence that led New Delhi to officially tell Islamabad Tuesday that it holds elements in Pakistan responsible for the Mumbai terror strikes.
Pakistan has denied any link with the Mumbai blasts.
"The government of Pakistan has offered a joint investigating mechanism and a joint commission to India," Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a nationwide telecast in Islamabad.
At the same time, India and Pakistan should not allow their composite dialogue to get derailed in the wake of the Mumbai killings, he said.
"We want better relations... and it is in the larger interest of the two countries to continue the composite dialogue process.
With Pakistan in the denial mode, India Tuesday briefed envoys of those countries whose nationals were killed in the NOv 26 terror carnage about the investigation and underlined that New Delhi expected Islamabad to act against militants based in its territory who engineered it.
Vivek Katju, special secretary (Political and International Organisations), held a meeting with the envoys and expressed India's deepest condolences to them.
The heads of missions from Germany, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Italy, Thailand, Israel and Mauritius were present at the meeting, official sources told IANS.
India's diplomatic offensive comes in response to repeated denials by Pakistan and Islamabad's frenzied calls to world capitals to convince the international community of its claimed innocence.
US Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate who lost the presidential race to Barack Obama, Tuesday said he was hopeful of Pakistan's cooperation with India in the Mumbai terrorist attack probe and opposed a military strike against Islamabad.
Underlining solidarity with India in the wake of the Nov 26 terror attacks, he said the US would not allow terrorists to provoke a confrontation between India and Pakistan.
"I assume the government of Pakistan will cooperate. They realise that this act of terror is not something that affects India but all the civilised nations," McCain said.
"No," he replied when asked whether the Mumbai attacks were a "fit case" for India to launch military action against Pakistan.
"We do not have hard evidence yet. Obviously, there are allegations that this organisation, this individual or this group were trained or operated or had some training in Pakistan," said McCain.
"This government is committed to better relations between India and Pakistan. They (those behind the Mumbai carnage) tried to provoke a confrontation between India and Pakistan," McCain told reporters here.
"This government will not allow it to happen," he said, indicating a pro-active US role in thwarting any breakdown of dialogue between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Nov 26 terror strikes.
"Relations between India and Pakistan were on an improving path. That was one of the objectives of terrorists (to strain ties between the two countries)," McCain said.
He, however, hoped that Pakistan will cooperate in addressing India's concerns over the terror strikes and show "transparency" in this connection.
"It is in the national interests of Pakistan to weaken these elements," he replied when asked whether the US will put pressure on Islamabad to act against those elements in Pakistan whom India suspect to be behind the Mumbai attacks.
McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona, was on his way to Bangladesh and Bhutan but decided to make a brief stopover here in the wake of the Mumbai strikes that has killed 183 people, including six Americans, and left 239 people injured.
McCain was echoing anxieties in Washington about the repercussions of potential India-Pakistan confrontation on the US war against fundamentalists in Afghanistan.
If such a situation arises, Pakistan is likely to move its troops from the Afghan border to its border with India - a move which could damage the US hopes of defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan.
McCain's trip to India comes a day before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives here in a bid to arrest the drift in fraying India-Pakistan ties in the wake of the terror attacks.
McCain, along with two other senators, Democrat Jospeh Lieberman and Lindsey O. Graham, called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here and underlined the US' solidarity with India in the fight against terrorism.
In their conversation with the prime minister, they offered to share the US' experiences in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Lieberman said.
They also told the prime minister about the counter-terror steps he US has taken, including the creation of the department of homeland security and a national counter-terrorism centre, said Lieberman.
President George W. Bush and president-elect Obama are acting in close coordination over the Mumbai terror strikes, the Republican senator said while underlining bipartisan support in the US to India in the aftermath of the terror strikes.
"We would be meeting Pakistan General (Ashfaq) Kiyani over the weekend and raise some questions with him," Liebermann told reporters here.
Indo-Asian News Service
The sight of fire leaping out of Taj hotel and its gutted rooms - as terrorists ravaged the grand heritage building in Mumbai - made Anilbhai Bhatt, 65, feel that his childhood had been consigned to flames.
"As a child, I always used to go there in the evening with my friends to play on the large courtyard in front of the hotel. We stayed clear of the hotel because it was out of bounds for us," Bhatt told IANS.
Every Mumbaikar, rich or poor, has a kind of affinity with the Taj. It is a hotel unmatched in India in terms of its regal opulence, sophisticated grandeur and discreet grace.
Every one of them is saddened today that the hotel that stood unsullied for 105 years has been made to crumble by terrorists who struck Wednesday at severalprominent places in the city and carried on the assault for 60 hours.
"Though I was born in Fort in south Mumbai and lived there till I got married, I never had an opportunity to go inside the Taj Hotel," rued Bhatt, a retired employee of a jewellery firm in Mumbai's popular jewellery market at Zaveri Bazar.
For countless people who visit Mumbai everyday, Taj is on their must-see list, though they cannot afford a simple cup of tea there. Even these visitors are pained to see the devastation wreaked by terrorists on the 105-year-old building.
Said Pradyut Sarkar from Silchar in Assam: "I first visited Mumbai two years ago. Like all visitors to the city, I had gone to the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Hotel at the Colaba sea front.
"I have seen many heritage buildings in Kolkata, but I was awestruck by the imposing structure of the Taj and the old world charm it exuded. I feel sad that the magnificent hotel has now been defaced and damaged so badly."
The Taj hotel was one of the city's most famous and photographed buildings.
Scores of people in Mumbai and many living elsewhere in the country, who have never set foot in the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, and Hotel Trident-Oberoi, are now upset that these two landmark luxury hotels facing the Arabian Sea should be the target of terrorists.
As inveterate party-goers Anil Dharker and Prahlad Kakkar said it is as if "a beautiful, charming virgin has been raped at gun-point by brutes".
Taj regulars are upset that the beautiful carpets laid all around the hotel's interiors and on the floors of each one of its 565 rooms are now blood stained, and damaged.
Actor-activist Rahul Bose said he could not bear to see the draperies of the hotel being stained with blood, the carefully arranged crockery strewn around the floors.
"The priceless antique paintings that adorned the walls are now either hanging in skewed angles or splotched with ugly gun-shot marks," he sighed.
"I wonder if I would be able to go to the Taj to cover any entertainment event there with the same happy feeling as I used to do until now. I will be haunted by memories of the fierce gun battle that raged continuously for three days," said entertainment journalist Indramohan Pannu.
The feeling is echoed by others who visited the heritage Taj regularly.
Stanley Fernandes, an employee of a now-defunct automobile publication, who lives at Mahim in central Mumbai, woke up with a jolt in the morning of Nov 27.
Until a few years ago, he used to regularly visit one of the second floor rooms in the Taj to take briefs from his employer, Kishu Gidwani.
Gidwani had migrated to India after the partition in 1947 and since then had been living in the Taj till 1983. After making the Taj his abode for 36 long years as a 'permanent guest', he later shifted to the National Sports Club of India at Worli in south-central Mumbai.
"Although Gidwani passed away some years ago, somehow I dreamt that he was lying in one of the rooms in a pool of blood," Fernandes said.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday announced the setting up of a Federal Investigating Agency and measures to strengthen maritime and air security in the wake of the terrorist savagery in the country's financial capital Mumbai.
"In the face of this national threat and in the aftermath of this national tragedy, all of us from different political parties must rise above narrow political considerations and stand united. We should work together in the interest of the country at this critical juncture," he said in his opening remarks at an all-party meeting here.
Manmohan Singh convened the meeting to take stock of the security situation and ways to strengthen the intelligence machinery in the country following three days and three nights of Mumbai terror that killed 183 lives and injured over 300.
While noting that "several measures are already in place to deal with the situation", he underlined that much more needed to be done "and we are determined to take all necessary measures to overhaul the system".
"We are further strengthening maritime and air security for which measures have been initiated. This will involve the navy, the Coast Guard and the coastal police, as well as the air force and the civil aviation ministry.
"The anti-terrorist forces of the country will be further strengthened and streamlined. The National Security Guard (NSG), the principal anti-terrorist force of the country, will be given additional facilities and the size of the force is being augmented. Steps have also been initiated to establish another four NSG hubs in different parts of the country. Additionally, the special forces at the disposal of the centre would be appropriately utilised in counter-insurgency operations."
NSG commandos fought pitched battles against the terrorists, who India says came from Pakistan, after the heavily armed gunmen took control of two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre, killed many in cold blood and took many more hostages. Two NSG commandos died in the operation.
The government has also finalised a set of legal measures based on the recommendations of the Administrative Reforms Commission which includes the setting up of a Federal Investigating Agency, the prime minister told some 20 political leaders from the treasury and opposition benches.
Manmohan Singh said that unlike the recent terrorist attacks across the country, the Mumbai nightmare was different in several aspects.
"It was an attack by highly trained and well-armed terrorists targeting our largest city. They came with the explicit aim of killing large numbers of innocent civilians, including foreign visitors. They sought to destroy some of the best known symbols of our commercial capital.
"The ordeal at Mumbai, which occupied the attention of the entire nation, has finally come to an end. All of us share the grief of those who have lost their loved ones in this dastardly and brutal attack and also the pain and anguish of those grievously wounded.
"We cannot lessen their grief. But we will do all we can to alleviate their suffering. I give you my solemn assurance that we will look after the needs of those who survive this horrible tragedy."
Saluting the bravery of the security forces who fought the terrorists in "exceptionally difficult circumstances" and freed hostages from three places, Manmohan Singh noted: "They tried their utmost to save innocent lives at great personal risk. Twenty officers and men made the ultimate sacrifice by laying down their lives. The entire nation owes a debt of gratitude to these men that we can never repay."
He hoped that the discussions at the meeting would lead to a consensus on steps required to be taken.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders V.K. Malhotra and Jaswant Singh were among those attending the meeting at the prime minister's residence.
Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh, Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat, and D. Raja and A.B. Bardhan of the Communist Party of India also attended the meeting.
The meeting took place barely hours after Shivraj Patil resigned as home minister taking moral responsibility for the terrorist attack.
Setting up a Federal Investigating Agency is among the steps the government has finalised to prevent a repeat of the Mumbai terrorist attack, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced at an all-party meeting here Sunday evening.
Here's a list of the measures:
# Setting up a Federal Investigating Agency;
# Tightening the maritime and air security, which will involve the navy, Coast Guard and the coastal police, as well as the Air Force and the civil aviation ministry;
# Anti-terrorist forces of the country will be further strengthened and streamlined;
# The National Security Guard (NSG) will be given additional facilities and the size of the force to be augmented;
# Steps taken to establish another four NSG hubs in different parts of the country;
# Special forces at the disposal of the central government to be used in counter insurgency operations.
Exactly a week after five synchronized terror blasts rattled the national capital and killed 24 people, Delhi Police Saturday said they had cracked the conspiracy behind this and three other terror attacks in the country.
“We have solved the Delhi blast case,” said Karnail Singh, joint commissioner of police (Special Cell).
Singh said a terrorist module of 13 people was responsible for the recent spate of terror attacks in India including the Uttar Pradesh court blasts of last year and the serial bombings in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and New Delhi this year.
He named the 13 members of the module as Atif, Saif, Zeeshan, Shajid, Junaid, Shadab Bhai, Alihas Malik, Shazid, Mohammad Khalif, Arif, Shakeel, Zia Khan and Salman.
All the members of the module were from Azamgarh village in Uttar Pradesh. “Atif lured his fellow and junior students from Azamgarh to terrorism,” the police official said.
Singh said the dreaded Pakistani terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) had been providing the training and support to the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Indian Mujahideen, which has claimed responsibility for the Ahmedabad and New Delhi attacks.
“When LeT's terrorists were arrested, ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan) had a problem internationally. So their strategy was to train more and more people of Indian origin. So they approached the SIMI and Indian Mujahideen and coordinated with them.
“SIMI provided the money and execution support to the Indian Mujahideen,” he added.
The police said they had seized a laptop from the Jamia Nagar house, where two terrorists were gunned down after a fierce gun battle Friday morning, and found that they were inspired by Al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden.
"From whatever information we have got from the seized laptop, it's clear that they were inspired by the philosophy of Al Qaeda. They were inspired by Osama bin Laden.
"We have sent the laptop for forensic analysis. Documents and photographs related to terror activities have been seized. We recovered the photos of Osama Bin Laden and software techie Tauqir's photo from the laptop," Singh added.
Mumbai-based Abdul Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqir has been alleged to have masterminded the Sep 13 serial blasts in the capital that killed 24 people and left nearly 100 injured. He has been absconding.
The police said the militants had brought the bombs from Karnataka before the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
"Mohammed Saif and Sajid went to Karnataka and bought 10 bombs to Delhi by train two or three days before the start of Ramadan. But one bomb was detected to be faulty at the last moment and, therefore, was not planted," Sing said in a press briefing.
He, however, said that one live bomb was yet to be recovered.
"They have thrown the faulty bomb in a drain near Batla House (in Jamia Nagar). Then there is a live bomb somewhere near the Regal cinema hall (in Connaught Place) but we haven't recovered them so far," said a senior police official.
Delhi Police had defused one bomb near the same cinema hall Sep 13.
"It was Atif (one of the two terrorists who were killed Friday) who used to send e-mails to various people including media organisations (about the Indian Mujahideen taking responsibility for the blasts). He was the main co-coordinator of sharing information amongst various organisations," Singh added.
The police said they used to roam around the country on fake voter identity cards.
“Saif and Zeeshan had made fake voter ID cards in the name of Rahul Sharma and Pankaj respectively and travelled to Gujarat on the fake identities.
“They also availed mobile phone connections on the basis of these fake ID cards. We have seized mobile phones in which they have clicked the video of the Jaipur blasts,” Singh said.
Explaining the modus operandi of the module Singh said: “All of them travelled to Jaipur May 13 in a bus and bought cycles and planted the bombs on them.”
Then they started preparing for the Ahmedabad blasts. “Eleven to 12 people from Delhi went to Ahmedabad July 10 for a recce. Three to four stayed back and others returned to Delhi on July 17.
“All those who returned went to Ahmedabad on July 23, manufactured and planted bombs with the help of the local supporters, few of whom were arrested in Ahmedabad,” Singh said.
At least 65 people were killed in the serial blasts in Jaipur May 13, while 56 people were killed in the July 26 Ahmedabad blasts.
“In Delhi these terrorists went for a recce Sep 11 and clicked photos of the sites,” Singh added.
Five bombs went off in quick succession in the capital's busy market places Sep 13, killing 24 people and injuring nearly 100 others.
Indo-Asian News Service
At least 60 people, including some foreigners, were killed and about 120 injured in a suicide attack at a luxury hotel in the high security zone around the parliament building here Saturday, even as the country's ruling elite, including the president and the three service chiefs, were attending an Iftar dinner at the Prime Minister House barely a kilometre away.
Orange flames and thick smoke billowed out of the Marriott Hotel, which turned into a blazing inferno as police, ambulances and rescue workers raced to the spot to tend to the injured. The authorities feared that the toll could rise as the blast, caused by an explosives-laden truck crashing into the hotel, left a 20-foot deep crater at its entrance.
There was speculation that the hotel, a landmark building that is the preferred destination of visiting diplomats and businessmen, could collapse.
Twisted and mangled remains of a number of vehicles littered the hotel's car park. The hotel is located near a number of high security buildings, including the Presidential Palace, the Prime Minister House, parliament and the Supreme Court.
"The fire has engulfed the whole hotel and people are being rescued," Advisor to the Prime Minister on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik, who reached the spot after the blast, said.
Initial reports said that a truck loaded with explosives hit the outer wall of the hotel, which soon went up in flames. Security officials said that several people who were residing in the hotel were still trapped inside and efforts were being made to rescue them.
Hospital sources said that they had received about 40 bodies and more than 100 injured. However, eyewitnesses said that the number of dead is more than 60 and more than 120 have been injured.
Police sources said that the dead include three Koreans, two Saudis and one American. Among the injured are some foreigners, including some Americans who were shifted to the hospital inside the US Embassy. Unconfirmed reports also said that a senior US security official was among the injured.
Eyewitnesses said that the explosives-laden truck, bearing government number plates, was stopped at the hotel entrance for a security check.
"As the security people were looking into the truck, it swiftly moved away and hit the outer wall of the hotel, causing a huge explosion," an eyewitness said.
The blast also caused the main gas pipeline outside the hotel to explode, adding to the mayhem. Sources said that at least 300 people were dining in the hotel when the blast took place. Being the fasting month of Ramadan people dine immediately after the sunset, which was at 7.12 p.m. Saturday and the blast took place at 7.56 p.m.
The blast occurred about four hours after President Asif Ali Zardari addressed a joint sitting of both houses of parliament, during which he called for joint efforts to deal with terrorism and extremism.
The impact of the blast was so severe that its reverberations were heard in a 15 kilometre area and many Islamabad residents thought an earthquake had struck. The windows of nearby buildings, including that of Pakistan Television, were shattered.
An emergency was declared in Islamabad hospitals as they braced to receive the injured and the bodies of those killed.
Advisor Malik condemned the attack and said that whoever was behind the blast "can't be friends of Islam or friends of this country".
Lamented Marriott Hotel owner Sadruddin Hashwani: "I don't have any enemies...these must be enemies of Pakistan. This is a huge loss to the country, to humanity," he told reporters outside the building.
President Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the chiefs of the navy and the air force, provincial governors, chief ministers, federal and provincial ministers and more than 300 MPs were attending the dinner at the PM House, official sources said.
National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza was hosting the dinner in honour of the president after his maiden address to a joint sitting of parliament Saturday afternoon. The governors, chief ministers and other high-ranking government officials were invited to hear the president's address.
The sources said that the dignitaries were sitting around tables on the lawns of the PM House after the Iftar and sunset prayers and dinner was being served when the bomb exploded with an ear-splitting sound, shattering windows of the sprawling mansion.
The sources said that immediately efter the blast, security personnel herded the VVIPs who were sitting around the high table into the building, which is about 100 yards from the main lawn. The sources confirmed that all the VVIPs were safe.
An eyewitness said that as crockery came crashing down from the tables, many thought that there was a blast within the PM House.
Security officials feared that the intended destination of the explosives-laden van was the PM House and that it perhaps could not reach there because of the high security that was in place in the capital since morning.
The consecutive suicide attacks in Islamabad and on Indian embassy in Kabul clearly show how much SAARC countries are inflicted with terrorism. The countries in subcontinent have always been soft targets for terrorists. No stringent laws, poor condition of intelligence and lack of active joint mechanisms between nations in Indian subcontinent have been the favouring factors for rising incidents. Although India and Pakistan set up a joint mechanism on terrorism, and similarly Pakistan also has a Pakistan-Afghan Accord to Obliterate Terrorism, but there are no results. The individual mechanisms are of no help in war on terrorism, we clearly need a combined forum to talk and find solutions and SAARC is that forum. During the 12th and 13th SAARC summits, extreme emphasis was laid upon greater cooperation between the SAARC members to fight terrorism, but the countries need to come out with a suitable framework in upcoming summit at Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Al Jazeera on Kabul Blast:
At least 28 people have been killed and more than 100 others wounded in Afghanistan's capital Kabul after an attack on the Indian embassy, offficials say.
Abdullah Fahim, the spokesman for the Afghan public health ministry, said the explosion wounded 141 people in addition to the deaths.
The ministry collected information from the scene and several Kabul hospitals.
James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Afghanistan, said the blast on Monday may have been the work of a suicide bomber.
"This is the deadliest attack in Kabul for some months now," he said.
At least two of the dead were Indian paramilitary soldiers guarding the embassy, Indian foreign ministry officials said.
Bays said the road in the main centre of Kabul along which the interior ministry is situated should be one of the most secure roads in the city and "yet a suicide bomber managed to drive his four-wheel drive vehicle packed with explosives towards the gate of the embassy where he detonated his bomb".
He added: "It is a scene of utter devastation. The bomb has taken away the gate of the embassy, taken down trees, blown out windows and destroyed many cars which were parked outside the road ... pools of blood in the road and, of course, the most of awful thing it has done is kill alot of people ... Among the dead are a number of Indian staff working at the Indian embassy."
"Our information says two personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police have been killed in the attack," a foreign ministry source said.
The blast, which was felt across much of Kabul, took place near a row of metal turnstiles outside the Indian embassy, where dozens of Afghan men line up every morning to apply for visas.
Show of support
Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, the Afghan foreign minister, visited the embassy soon after the attack to show support, Sultan Ahmad Baheen, his spokesman, said.
"The enemies of Afghanistan and India's relationship cannot hamper our relationship by conducting such attacks," Baheen said.
India has provided significant support to Afghanistan's efforts to restore order after the removal of the Taliban, which seized power in 1996 until they were pushed out.
Pranab Mukherjee, the Indian foreign minister, has called an emergency meeting of defence, foreign and home ministry officials to discuss the security situation, Indian officials said.
"There is no report of major damage to the embassy building but a watch tower has been destroyed as per our preliminary information."
The Indian embassy sits on a busy, tree-lined street in central Kabul near the interior ministry offices.
The ministry building is a large Soviet-built concrete complex.
Several nearby shops were damaged or destroyed in the blast.
The Associated Press news agency quoted witnesses as saying the bomb exploded during morning rush hour.
Monday's explosion was the deadliest attack in Kabul this year and the worst since a suicide bomber attacked an army bus last September, killing 30 people.
While Afghanistan has seen increasing violence in recent months, Kabul has been largely spared from random bomb attacks that Taliban fighters use in their fight against Afghan and international troops.
Canadian killed
In a separate incident on Monday, a Canadian soldier with Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) died in an explosion that hit a patrol in the country's south, a Canadian commander said.
Private Colin William Wilmot was taking part in a security patrol when an explosive device blew up near him, Brigadier-General Denis Thompson said in a statement.
Canada has deployed 2,500 soldiers in southern Afghanistan as part of the 40-nation Isaf, which numbers about 53,000 soldiers.
The latest death brings the Canadian death toll in Afghanistan since 2002 to 87 soldiers and one diplomat.
An influential group of Muslim theologians in India have denounced terrorism, saying it is completely against the teachings of Islam.
Their statements were made at a meeting held at the Darul-Uloom Deoband, a powerful Islamic school more than 150 years old.
Scholars from 6,000 religious schools attended the meeting.
The Deoband school promotes a brand of Islam which some say was an inspiration to Afghanistan's Taleban.
The school has always denied this.
Opening the conclave the head of the Deoband school, Maulana Marghoobur Rahman, described terrorism as a thoughtless act which is against the teachings of Islam.
He said that the killing of innocent people of any religion was prohibited by the Koran, the Muslim Holy Book.
Many participants said they want to change popular perceptions in which, they say, terrorism is being equated with Islam.
Others said that while Muslims should not be harassed because of anti-terrorism operations, the community also needed to be more introspective.
Many Islamic seminaries across India have come under the scanner of the federal authorities in the wake of recent terror attacks.
Set up in 1866 in north India the Darul-Uloom Deoband is the most influential Muslim religious school in south and south-east Asia.©BBC
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