Pakistani Taliban threatens White House attack that will 'amaze everyone'

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http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090331/world/pakistan

Pakistani Taliban threatens White House attack that will 'amaze everyone'

38 minutes ago

By Ishtiaq Mahsud, The Associated Press

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan - The commander of the Pakistani Taliban claimed

responsibility Tuesday for a deadly assault on a Pakistani police academy and

said the group was planning a terrorist attack on the White House that would

" amaze " the world.

Baitullah Mehsud, who has a US$5 million bounty on his head from the United

States, said Monday's attack on the outskirts of the eastern city of Lahore was

retaliation for U.S. missile strikes against militants along the Afghan border.

" Soon we will launch an attack in Washington that will amaze everyone in the

world, " Mehsud told The Associated Press by phone. He provided no details.

In his latest comments, Mehsud identified the White House as one of the targets

in an interview with local Dewa Radio, a copy of which was obtained by the AP.

Mehsud has never been directly linked to any attacks outside Pakistan, but

attacks blamed on his network of fighters have widened in scope and ambition in

recent years.

The threat comes days after U.S. President Barack Obama warned that al-Qaida is

actively planning attacks on the United States from secret havens in Pakistan.

FBI spokesman Kolko said the bureau was not aware of any imminent or

specific threat to the United States, despite what the Pakistani Taliban leader

said.

" He has made similar threats to the U.S. in the past, " said Kolko.

Pakistan's former government and the CIA named Mehsud as the prime suspect

behind the December 2007 killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Pakistani officials accuse him of harbouring foreign fighters, including Central

Asians linked to al-Qaida, and of training suicide bombers.

Mehsud also claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing that killed four

soldiers Monday in Bannu district and a suicide attack targeting a police

station in Islamabad last week that killed one officer.

Such attacks pose a major test for the weak, year-old civilian administration of

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari that has been gripped with political

turmoil in recent weeks.

An Interior Ministry spokesman said it was too early to respond to Mehsud's

claim, but the Interior Ministry chief said Monday that authorities had

information linking the attack to Mehsud. He said at least one of the attackers

arrived in Lahore about 15 days ago from Mehsud's stronghold of South Waziristan

near the border with Pakistan and rented a house.

The gunmen who attacked the police academy killed seven police and two

civilians, holding security forces at bay for about eight hours before being

overpowered by Pakistani commandos. Some of the attackers wore police uniforms,

and they took hostages and tossed grenades during the assault.

Earlier Tuesday, a spokesman from a little-known militant group linked to the

Pakistani Taliban also claimed responsibility for the attack and a similar

ambush-style attack against the Sri Lankan cricket team earlier this month in

Lahore. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the two claims.

Farooq, who said he is the spokesman for Fedayeen al-Islam, said the group

would carry out more attacks unless Pakistani troops withdraw from tribal areas

near the Afghan border and the U.S. stops its drone strikes. The group

previously said it was behind the deadly September bombing of the Marriott hotel

in Islamabad that killed 54 people.

Mehsud declined to comment on Fedayeen al-Islam's claim that it carried out the

attack or to say whether the group is linked to his own. The Pakistani Taliban

leader also said he was not deterred by the U.S. bounty on his head: " I wish to

die and embrace martyrdom. "

The AP has spoken to Mehsud several times in the past and recognized his voice,

and a request for an interview with Mehsud was submitted through his aide. The

militant leader also granted phone interviews to other media organizations.

The Pakistani Taliban has links with al-Qaida and Afghan Taliban militants who

have launched attacks against U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan from a base in

the border region between the two countries.

Pakistan faces tremendous U.S. pressure to eradicate militants from its soil and

has launched several military operations in the Afghan border region.

The United States has stepped up drone attacks against militants in the area,

causing tension with Pakistani officials who protest they are a violation of the

country's sovereignty and kill innocent civilians.

Monday's highly co-ordinated attack highlighted that militants in the country

pose a threat far outside the border region. It prompted Interior Ministry chief

Rehman Malik, Pakistan's top civilian security official, to say that militant

groups were " destabilizing the country. "

After gunmen stormed the academy, masses of security forces surrounded the

compound, exchanging fire in televised scenes reminiscent of the militant siege

in the Indian city of Mumbai in November and the attack on Sri Lanka's cricket

team.

Officials Tuesday were still trying to sort out how many attackers were

involved, giving varying accounts to the media.