Car bomb found near Karachi US consulate

A US embassy spokesman said consulate security personnel spotted the van and informed police before staff had arrived. ‘‘Our people are not working, at least for today,’’ he said. A 750-litre drum containing a mixture of chemicals, including ammonium nitrate, was found in the van, police said. Detonators were also found but apparently they had not been connected to the drum of chemicals.

Security cameras at the US mission had recorded a man parking the van, getting out of it and talking to a guard, police said. ‘‘A youngster parked the van in front of the consulate, telling guards that it had broken down. He then drove away in another car,’’ said Fayyaz Leghari, a deputy inspector general of police. The van had been stolen in the city on Sunday evening by two gunmen who wounded the vehicle’s owner when they grabbed it.

Powell is due to visit Islamabad, but not Karachi, on Wednesday. Powell is visiting Pakistan on a tour that also takes him to India and Afghanistan. President Pervez Musharraf, on Monday said that a Libyan member of Al-Qaeda was behind the repeated attempts on his life.