Danish government condemns Pakistan bombing (2nd Roundup)

Jun 2, 2008, 18:37 GMT

Copenhagen - A bombing believed to have claimed at least six lives outside the Danish embassy in Pakistan on Monday was condemned by Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

The Danish Foreign Ministry on Monday evening confirmed that a Danish national was killed in the blast in Islamabad, but said the victim was not an embassy employee.

Rasmussen said it was a 'cowardly attack' and 'strongly condemned' it, but he did not know who had carried out the attack or its motive.

The Danish premier said Pakistani authorities, including President Pervez Musharraf, had conveyed condolences to Denmark, and he had conveyed Copenhagen's condolences and offered Danish assistance to the victims of the bombing.

'Denmark will not give in to terrorists,' Rasmussen told reporters at the premier's official summer residence Marienborg, saying security had been raised against the backdrop of earlier threats.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller said that a Pakistan national employed by the embassy was one of the dead.

Moller told reporters the Foreign Ministry did not know who committed the attack, but Copenhagen was in 'close contact' with Pakistani authorities and a full investigation was under way.

The head of the Danish security and intelligence service (PET), Jakob Scharf, said the agency was cooperating with Danish military intelligence and the Foreign Ministry.

In April, the PET raised its terrorist alert, citing threats in regions where 'militant extremist groups' were active, including Pakistan and Afghanistan, North Africa and the Middle East.

Moller said the attack was aimed at 'harming relations between Pakistan and the West.'

He noted that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had called for attacks on Denmark over the publication of controversial cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed and militant groups were angered that Danish troops served in ISAF operations in Afghanistan.

The Danish foreign minister earlier said three other Pakistani nationals employed by the embassy were injured in the blast, 'one seriously.'

Moller said the bombing was 'completely unacceptable.'

A crisis team was heading for Islamabad he said, and meanwhile the Foreign Ministry was reviewing security measures at Danish embassies around the world.

The Foreign Ministry urged Danes to avoid all trips to the south Asian nation in a revised travel advisory. Danish nationals in the country were advised to be on the alert and the embassy has been closed until further notice.

Nordic neighbours Norway and Sweden also closed their embassies in Islamabad and urged their nationals to be on the alert.

In February, Danish security police said they foiled a plan to murder newspaper cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, who drew a controversial cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed wearing a bomb as a turban.

The cartoon was one of 12 images published in September 2005 by the Jyllands-Posten newspaper. The cartoons sparked violent protests in 2006, and Danish companies were boycotted in many Muslim countries.

Leading Danish newspapers republished the cartoons after the alleged plot was disclosed, saying the move was to protect freedom of speech. That publication sparked new protests.