20 killed in bomb blast at Muslim shrine

AN apparent suicide bomb detonated yesterday as hundreds of Shi'ite Muslims recited verses from the Koran during a religious festival at a shrine near Pakistan's capital.

At least 20 people were killed in the blast, and dozens were wounded, witnesses said.

After the blast, hundreds of Shi'ite pilgrims, beating their chests in mourning, clashed with baton-wielding police, who charged the crowd to clear the way for ambulances. Some of the Shi'ite protesters chanted, "Down with America!"

The explosion at the Bari Imam shrine, the burial place of a saint on the outskirts of Islamabad, was the latest attack on a religious gathering in Pakistan, which has a long history of violent sectarian rivalry. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Police immediately cordoned off the shrine, which is about a half-mile from the official residence of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

President General Pervez Musharraf, a key US ally in the fight against al-Qaida, condemned the blast and appealed to his countrymen to "join hands against religious terrorism, sectarianism and extremism".

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the bombing appeared to be a suicide attack. Witnesses said police collected the head of a suspected suicide bomber.

An AP photographer at the shrine counted at least 20 bodies, many of them in pieces scattered over about 50 yards, making it hard to give an exact figure. An intelligence official who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of his position said at least 20 people were killed and 150 were wounded.

"None of the bodies was intact," said Dr Wahid Abbas, who helped treat the wounded. "Some had legs blown off. Some had their hands blown off."

Mukhtar Kazmi, running a free clinic at the shrine for the five-day annual festival, said it treated about 200 people.

"It was like hell," said worshipper Syed Muktar Hussain Shah, 40. "I fell down ... when I woke up I saw dead bodies around me."

Major Tubassam Zaheer, a bomb disposal expert, said his team was collecting body parts and clothes of the victims to help determine what type of explosives were used in the attack.

Ali Ahmad, an injured worshipper, said he saw a man dressed in a police uniform who appeared to be the bomber walk inside as worshippers recited verses from the Koran. Police tried to stop the man but failed, he said.

However, another witness, SM Shirazi, gave a different account. He said two bearded men he believed were the bombers entered the gathering and sat near a podium at the front. There was an explosion and the body of one of them flew in the air, he said. He did not know what happened to the second man.

Witness Shabbir Hussain said there was panic after the blast.

"I saw pieces of dead bodies, lots of dust in the air. Then I heard people crying and people wailing and I left because we feared a series of bombs.

"People were shouting, 'Leave the place! There might be another explosion!'"

Hours after the bombing, thousands of supporters of hardline Islamic groups attended previously planned rallies in Islamabad and other cities to protest at the alleged desecration of the Koran at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.