Qaeda or an affiliate was “likely” behind a car bomb outside the Danish Embassy in Islamabad that killed six people including one Danish citizen, Denmark's intelligence service said. The six dead included two Pakistani policemen, as well as a cleaner and a handyman employed by the embassy. One of the victims was Pakistani-born with a Danish passport, the Danish Foreign Ministry said. On Tuesday, Pakistani investigators sifted through the rubble at the scene of the explosion, which came weeks after Al-Qaeda threatened Denmark over blasphemous cartoons published by some Danish newspapers. Danish investigators were expected to join the search. The Danish Security and Intelligence Service, known as PET, said in a statement late Monday that the embassy was the likely target. “It is PET's assessment that Al-Qaeda or an Al-Qaeda-related group likely is behind the attack,” agency director Jakob Scharf said. He added “a series of other militant groups and networks in Pakistan also could have the intention and the capacity to hit Danish targets in Pakistan.” The blast also comes as Pakistan seeks to deflect pressure to stop negotiating peace deals with militants in regions along the border with Afghanistan. It wounded some 35 people, left a deep crater on the road outside the embassy, severely damaged a nearby office of a development group, and devastated everything from trees to cars. The embassy building remained standing, though its windows shattered. Officials were trying to determine if it was a suicide attack. Senior police officer Ahmed Latif said the attacker apparently used a fake diplomatic license plate to get the car near the embassy. Danish Foreign Ministry spokesman Klaus A. Holm said there were three Danish diplomats in Islamabad. He said staff were working Tuesday but would not specify what business was conducted. “They are working as best as they can in these difficult circumstances, in this building that doesn't really function, so we have to work from other places, other addresses, too,” he said. A message Tuesday on the telephone answering system at the embassy said it was closed. On its web site, Danes were advised against traveling to Pakistan and those already in the country were told to “exercise particular vigilance.”
