Bomber identified in attack on General

8216;8216;One of the two attackers has been identified,8217;8217; Hayat said. 8216;8216;Our investigators are working on some positive leads and several people have been detained for questioning.8217;8217;

He earlier told the Senate the government was 8216;8216;aware of the nature of the people involved8217;8217; but said revealing details would impair the investigation. Investigators had found the mutilated head of one bomber and were trying to prepare a sketch, Information Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said. The man looked like a foreigner, he said. Musharraf had been targeted for his 8216;8216;pragmatic stance8217;8217; in the war on terror, Hayat said.

Intelligence officials confirmed they were questioning several people, but gave no details. However, they said they did not rule out the possibility of involvement of Islamists within the ranks of the armed forces.

Musharraf, who appeared on state television hours after the attack on his motorcade in the city of Rawalpindi, blamed Muslim militants. The blasts killed 14 people, including the bombers, and slightly damaged the President8217;s car.

Although Musharraf was unscathed, Hayat said the attack was 8216;8216;much more serious8217;8217; than past attempts on Musharraf8217;s life, which include a bomb attack that missed his motorcade by minutes on the same Rawalpindi road on December 14.

Analysts and politicians have questioned how attackers could have got details of Musharraf8217;s movements to allow them to mount two attacks in so short a time in Rawalpindi, the headquarters of Pakistan8217;s Army.

8216;8216;It is the most serious breach in security since President Musharraf took power four years ago,8217;8217; said Mushahid Hussain, a senator from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League.

8216;8216;This shows not only a link between the two attacks, but also that terrorists are well-organised. They have carried out attacks in the heart of Pakistan8217;s power structure and the most sensitive place where we assume that security is very tight. We need immediate remedial measures and to set up a force dedicated to combating and crushing terrorism.8217;8217; Hours after the latest attack, Musharraf, a vital ally in the US-led war on terror, vowed to step up his campaign against extremists. He said preventing suicide attacks was not easy, but any individual lapse would be investigated. A few days after the December 14 attack, Musharraf had said that it could have been the work of Al Qaeda.

Thursday8217;s attack came a day after Musharraf struck a deal with hardline Islamic opponents in parliament to step down as Army Chief by the end of 2004 to resolve a long-running row over his powers that all but paralysed Parliament.Reuters