ISLAMABAD, Dec 18: Authorities here are questioning 10 Al Qaeda suspects who were arrested in Rawalpindi late on Monday, the day after President Musharraf’s motorcade escaped a bomb explosion in the city.

Officials, however, insisted they have no connection to the blast.

“Investigations are still on,” a senior interior ministry official Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema told AFP on Thursday.

“It is not yet clear if the arrested suspects were operatives, facilitators or a sleeper cell of Al Qaeda,” he said. “Identities of the suspects are yet to be determined but there are some Afghans among them,” he said. Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said on Wednesday the ten people had links with Al Qaeda.—AFP