NEW YORK, Oct 26: Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States Mahmud Ali Durrani has rejected former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s charge that some current and former government officials could be involved in the recent attempt on her life.

“I think, with due respect to her, it was absurd,” Mr Durrani was quoted as telling the New York Times’ editorial board during a meeting on Thursday. Mr Durrani expressed confidence that the suicide bombers would be identified and their backers apprehended by the Pakistani government without American or other international assistance.

But in an editorial comment, the Times said: “Even if Pakistan’s government considers the names cited by Ms Bhutto as unlikely suspects in the devastating suicide bombing that took 139 lives, it should not reject such concerns out of hand — and must go all out to quickly get to the bottom of the attack.”

However, Times editors noted: “Despite the substantial loss of life in the attack on Ms Bhutto, the ambassador sees a ‘silver lining’ in that the majority of moderate Pakistanis may now feel compelled to speak out against the country’s extremist minority”.