By Syed Irfan Raza, Mohammad Asghar and Munawwar Azeem
ISLAMABAD, Oct 5: Senior security officials, who met in the interior ministry on Thursday to take stock of the situation after discovery of two live rockets near the presidency and parliament and an overnight mysterious explosion near the president’s residence in Rawalpindi, felt that the two incidents were inter-linked.
A rumour was circulating here about a blast near the Parliamentary Lodges on Wednesday night before Rawalpindi’s Ayub Park blast.
President Gen Pervez Musharraf goes to his office in the presidency through the Constitution Avenue, by the side of which the live rockets were found. He was attending a conference in the Convention Hall when a security alert went up following the discovery of the rockets.
“We are investigating from different angles. The possibility that a link exists between the Rawalpindi blast and the siting of rockets in Islamabad cannot be ruled out,” Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao told media people after the meeting.
Still, he said that those who sited the rockets just 200 metres from the presidency had no specific target in mind.
Asked what could their motive be, the minister said: “It was an attempt to tarnish the successful visit of President Pervez Musharraf to the United States, United Kingdom and Cuba.”
Mr Sherpao said that over 100 labourers who first saw the rockets lying near their work place had been detained for interrogation but no one had been arrested.
Those who participated in the meeting included Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah and senior officials of the Inter- Services Intelligence and other law-enforcement agencies.
Mr Shah said that it would be premature to say anything about the motive behind placing the rockets close to the presidency but it looked ‘nothing more than an attempt to create harassment.’
He did not rule out the possibility of external involvement though and said that rockets of same origin had been used in Balochistan.
He said that the security meeting took serious note of security lapses that allowed the sneaking of rockets into the capital and so close to the presidency and the parliament house.
Meanwhile, an explosives expert told Dawn that 107mm rounds were used to destroy bunkers and tanks. Their maximum range is said to be 200 metres — the distance between the approach road to the presidency and the green belt where the rockets were found.
The expert said that the rockets could not be fired without a launcher. Though a mobile phone was found with the rockets but that did not mean it was a triggering device, he added.
Police was informed about the presence of rockets by those doing construction work at the National Art Gallery. Seven of the over 100 workers were detained for questioning live in a tent pitched close to the place where the rockets were found.
After the security alert, the area was cordoned off as military personnel arrived and defused the rockets.
Witnesses said launchers were also found with the rockets.
Weapons manuals say such rockets are normally fired from a trailer- or truck-mounted multiple launchers, but may also be fired from single tube launchers.
ISLAMABAD, Oct 5: Senior security officials, who met in the interior ministry on Thursday to take stock of the situation after discovery of two live rockets near the presidency and parliament and an overnight mysterious explosion near the president’s residence in Rawalpindi, felt that the two incidents were inter-linked.
