ISLAMABAD, Oct 31: Abdullah Mehsud, an Al Qaeda-linked commander, on Sunday claimed responsibility for the Friday explosion at an Islamabad hotel.

Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Abdullah Mehsud, 29, also threatened that his group would carry out violent attacks in other parts of the country. "Now we will spread out and carry out similar attacks wherever possible," he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur by telephone.

At the time of blast, sources told dpa that US and Japanese defence and intelligence officials were staying in the hotel, but most of them had had left the hotel by Friday evening.

Mehsud claimed that one US intelligence official had been killed in the blast. The US embassy has advised its nationals to avoid visiting the hotel.-dpa