Car bomber kills 34 as terror target hotel reopens
A suicide bomber pretending to need help with his car killed 34 people in north-west Pakistan as the Marriott hotel in Islamabad partially reopened three months after a brazen truck bombing left 54 dead.
The Marriott building was badly damaged by the September blast – blamed on a Pakistani militant group accused of killing US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002 - but renovations, a security overhaul and the addition of a giant bombproof wall meant the luxury hotel was ready to welcome guests again, the owner, Saddaruddin Hashwani, said yesterday.
