ISLAMABAD, June 05 (AP): Denmark shared with Pakistani investigators video footage of the suicide car bombing against its embassy Thursday, while an Internet posting purportedly by al-Qaeda claimed responsibility and threatened more attacks.
The statement, signed by an al-Qaeda commander in Afghanistan, said Monday's attack in Islamabad was carried out to fulfill the promise of Osama bin Laden to exact revenge over the reprinting in Danish papers of a cartoon of Islam's Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban.
The attack killed six people, including a Danish citizen. It caused widespread destruction and demonstrated the vulnerability of the Pakistani capital to attack by Islamic extremists.
The authenticity of the statement, which was posted on a Web site frequently used by Islamic militants, could not be independently verified. It was signed by al-Qaeda commander Mustafa Abu al-Yazeed and dated Tuesday.
Al-Yazeed warned that if Denmark fails to apologize for the cartoons more attacks will follow and Monday's blast will "only be the first drop of rain."
The attack is but a "warning to this infidel nation and whoever follows its example." Denmark "published the insulting drawings" and later "refused to apologize for publishing them, instead they repeated their act," the posting said.
It said the bombing was carried out by an al-Qaeda martyr whose last will and testament will soon be made public, and thanked Pakistani jihadists for helping prepare and execute the plot.
Denmark officials have already said they suspect al-Qaeda was behind the attack. Pakistani officials were not immediately available to comment on the purported al-Qaeda claim of responsibility.
Ben Venzke of IntelCenter, a US group which monitors al-Qaeda messages, said al-Qaeda could target embassies and diplomatic personnel, possibly in Pakistan, from other countries where the cartoons also were published.
Venzke said Norway, the US and all European Union member countries, including Denmark, were most at risk.
Monday's attack was the deadliest strike against Denmark since the publication of the cartoons. A 10-member Danish crisis management team is now in Pakistan to help probe the bombing and assess security for the Danish diplomatic mission in the leafy capital.
