Militant suspected of Pearl killing possibly a victim of his own bomb

PAKISTANI police said a leading Islamic militant suspected of involvement in the murder of US reporter Daniel Pearl may have blown himself up yesterday while making bombs in the southern port city of Karachi.

Four people, including a woman, died when an explosion caused a three-story building to collapse in Karachi’s eastern Korangi district. Police said they had found about 10lb of explosives packed in the fuel tank of a motorcycle in the ruins of the building, as well as an identity card bearing a photo resembling leading terror suspect Asif Ramzi.

Ramzi is a member of the outlawed extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. He was wanted in connection with the kidnap and murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter earlier this year as well as a series of bomb attacks in Karachi, Leghari said.

Pearl was kidnapped in Karachi in January while researching a story on Islamic militants in Pakistan, alleged shoe bomber Richard Reid and Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network, against the backdrop of the 2001 attacks on the United States. A video later surfaced in Karachi showing Pearl had been brutally murdered after being forced to state he was a Jew.