ISLAMABAD, July 26: An Uzbek national arrested in Pakistan has told interrogators that Al Qaeda organised this year’s suicide attack on the US consulate in Karachi, a security official said on Wednesday.

Five people, including an American diplomat, were killed in the suicide bombing outside the US mission on March 2, the eve of a visit to Islamabad by US President George W. Bush.

The official said the Uzbek Al Qaeda suspect was picked up a few weeks ago in Wana, adding he had revealed that the attack had been planned by Al Qaeda and executed by local militants.

“He said he brought the plan to Karachi from Wana and handed it over to local militants for execution,” said the official, requesting anonymity.

“The whole plan to bomb the consulate before President Bush’s arrival was conceived by Al Qaeda in the tribal territory of Waziristan,” he said.

“We are very close to resolving the case and we believe that most of those who planned the attack were Uzbeks.”

Karachi police chief Niaz Siddiqui said investigations into the attack now showed Al Qaeda was responsible.—AFP