By Kamran Haider
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Gunmen kidnapped Afghanistan's topdiplomat to Pakistan on Monday after killing his driver,underscoring worsening security in the nuclear-armed countrytwo days after a suicide bomber killed 53 people.
British Airways said it had suspended flights to Pakistanbecause of security fears after the Saturday evening truck-bombattack on Islamabad's Marriott Hotel.
Arabiya television reported that the little-known groupFedayeen Islam (Partisans of Islam) claimed responsibility forthe Marriott bombing, Islamabad's worst attack, in a tapeplayed over the telephone to its correspondent in the Pakistancapital.
Arabiya said the group made several demands, including thatPakistan stop cooperating with the United States. It said theauthenticity of the tape could not be verified and the group isnot known to have claimed other attacks.
Before the group claimed responsibility, Pakistan'sgovernment had said it expected investigations into theSaturday bombing would lead to al Qaeda and Taliban militantsin the Federally Administered Tribal Areas on the Afghanborder.
Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said President AsifAli Zardari, as well as the prime minister and army commander,had been due to attend a dinner at the hotel on the night ofthe attack but the venue was changed on the prime minister'sadvice.
The Czech ambassador and at least three other foreignerswere among those killed in the blast, which wounded 266 peopleand which security officials said bore the hallmarks of alQaeda.
The blast reinforced investors' negative attitudes aftermonths of political uncertainty, a currency dealer said.
The beleaguered Pakistani rupee sank to a new low, tradingat 78.55 to the dollar before closing at 78.21/28. The rupeehas lost 21.2 percent against the dollar this year.
The Afghan consul general in the northwestern city ofPeshawar, Abdul Khaliq Farahi, was seized after gunmen ambushedhis car and killed his driver. Gunmen opened fire on a U.S.diplomat in the city last month.
"Masked gunmen intercepted his vehicle and took him awayafter killing his driver," said consulate official NoorMohammad Takal. "It's a very serious incident. The Pakistanigovernment needs to give security to diplomats."
Pakistan said it was taking all measures to recover Farahi,who is due to take over as ambassador to Pakistan, safely.
"END MILITARY INTERVENTION"
Shortly before the attack in Peshawar, a British Airwaysspokesman said the airline had suspended its six flights a weekto Pakistan while the company reviewed security.
The Marriott bombing has raised fresh calls for Pakistan'sgovernment to rethink its unpopular alliance with the UnitedStates and military operations against Islamist militants,which many Pakistanis blame for inciting violence.
Pakistan's army is in the midst of an offensive againstmilitants in the Bajaur region on the Afghan border, while theUnited States has intensified attacks on militants on thePakistani side of the border, infuriating the Pakistani army.
A security official said troops had fired at two U.S.helicopters that intruded into Pakistani air space on Sundaynight, forcing them back to Afghanistan.
Troops were attacking militant hideouts in the Bajaurregion where the government says more than 600 militants havebeen killed in fighting since August.
A suicide bomber killed five paramilitary soldiers in theSwat Valley while police said they killed nine militants in aclash in a town near Peshawar.
"HALT OFFENSIVES"
A senior opposition politician, former prime minister NawazSharif, said the government should reject U.S. pressure tofight militants, halt offensives and "sit down at the sametable" and negotiate peace.
"The government must immediately end any militaryintervention in the tribal areas," Sharif said in an interviewwith Italy's La Repubblica newspaper.
"I condemn the Marriott attack, but condemnation is notsufficient to straighten things out. We must avoid thepressures of the United States and think for ourselves," hesaid.
Among the foreigners killed on Saturday were a Vietnamesewoman and two members of the U.S. armed forces assigned to theU.S. embassy.
A U.S. State Department employee was unaccounted for andDenmark's security service said one of its staff, attached tothe Danish mission, was missing and presumed dead.
The Interior Ministry said 11 foreigners were among thewounded after the bomber blew up a truck packed with 600 kg(1,320 lb) of explosives, including artillery shells.
A political analyst said the severity of Saturday's bombingshould have convinced more people that the military was notjust fighting America's war despite scepticism about securitypolicy.
Shafqat Mahmood, a former government minister and analyst,said authorities could take advantage of anger over the attack.
"This is a popular government not a military government, ithas support among the people. They can mobilise their supportfor fighting real challenges," he said.
Financial analysts said the bombing would be a blow forforeign investment but not a severe one unless it marked thebeginning of a new phase of violence.
(Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony and Sahar Ahmedand Gulf Newsroom; Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by PaulTait)
