By Kamran Haider
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A bomb went off outside the Danishembassy in the Pakistani capital on Monday killing four peopleand wounding 14, police and a hospital official said.
The blast destroyed the embassy gate and damaged thebuilding and vehicles in the compound in the upmarket districtof Islamabad where other missions and diplomats' houses arelocated.
"Four people have been killed, there are no foreignersamong them," said a security official at the scene.
"It seems it was a car bomb," said the official, whodeclined to be identified.
A hospital official said 14 people had been hurt, two ofthem seriously. All of the wounded were Pakistanis.
Danish newspapers infuriated Muslims around the world whenthey published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in late 2005.The cartoons, considered blasphemous by Muslims, sparked deadlyprotests in 2006 which included attacks on Danish missions.
Denmark also has nearly 700 troops with a NATO-led forcebattling the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The blast left a crater about three feet (one metre) deepon the road outside the mission. A car engine was left about 30feet (10 metres) from the crater, a witness said.
A senior police officer said the blast could have beencaused by a suicide attacker. Two of the dead were policemen,another police officer said.
Television pictures showed considerable damage to themission and nearby buildings and vehicles. One of the deadappeared to be a Pakistani guard.
"THEY DESERVE IT"
Windows were broken in the home of the Indian HighCommissioner, which is near the Danish embassy, a securityofficial said.
"Since the printing of cartoons, we always had this fear,"said Sana Khalid, a resident of the area.
"But what they did to our religion, they deserve it," shesaid.
Danish daily Politiken quoted embassy charge d'affairesMichael Hjortso as saying only one other Dane was in thebuilding at the time of the blast.
Pakistan went through a wave of suicide bombings in thesecond half of 2007 and early this year but most of the attackswere on the Pakistani security forces and politicians,including former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, killed in aDecember 27 attack.
Attacks on foreigners have been rare since several in 2002,but a blast at an Italian restaurant in Islamabad in Marchkilled a Turkish woman and wounded several other foreigners,including some U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents.
Attacks have dropped off since a new government came topower after a February general election vowing to negotiatewith militants through intermediaries to end violence.
But the talks have raised questions in the United Statesand among some of Pakistan's other allies, who fear peace dealsin Pakistan will free up Taliban and al Qaeda militants tointensify their war against Western troops in Afghanistan.
(Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony; Writing byRobert Birsel)
