June 03, 2008	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 28, 1429

ISLAMABAD, June 2: President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi have condemned Monday’s bomb explosion outside the Danish embassy and said it has fortified Pakistan’s resolve to fight terrorism.

Copenhagen said it saw the blast as an attempt to ruin Pakistan’s ties with the West and it would send a delegation to offer condolences over the death of eight Pakistanis in the attack.

The president, the prime minister and the foreign minister said in their separate messages to the Danish leadership that the government and people of Pakistan were grieved and distressed at the tragic incident.

“I will like to assure you that this incident has further fortified our resolve to combat and eliminate the evil and dark forces that have unleashed senseless violence,” said President Musharraf in his message to Queen Margrethe-II of Denmark.

Prime Minister Gilani said in his message to his Danish counterpart Anders Fogh Rrasmussen: “This will redouble our resolve not only to apprehend the culprits of this heinous act but also to continue on our avowed path to fight terrorism and extremism.”

In his message for Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller, Mr Qureshi termed the incident highly regrettable.Later, in a telephone call to Mr Moller, Foreign Minister Qureshi said the scourge of terrorism was threatening the entire humanity.

Mr Moeller thanked Pakistan government for expressing solidarity with Denmark. He said Denmark would send a delegation to Pakistan to condole the death of the Pakistanis killed in the attack and meet Danish diplomats.

Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told reporters at the site of the incident that the blast had damaged Pakistan’s image abroad. He visited the embassy to express sympathies with charge d’ affairs Michael Hjofter.

The foreign secretary also spoke to the UNDP representative, Indian high commissioner and Brazilian and Dutch ambassadors and expressed sympathy over the damage caused to their buildings.

Meanwhile, Norwegian Embassy in Islamabad closed down after the blast outside Danish embassy.

The Norwegian Department of Foreign Affairs (UD) has issued a travel advisory asking Norwegians to refrain from travel to Pakistan.

Denmark has also advised its citizens against all travel to Pakistan.