Pakistani bomb attack, US flight fears invoke al Qaeda shadow

LOS ANGELES/RAWALPINDI - Air France cancelled Christmas flights to Los Angeles yesterday over US fears of a repeat of September 11 al Qaeda attacks, while a top target of the group, Pakistan's president, escaped assassination last night for the second time this month.

As bombs hit cities from Baghdad to Kabul, two suicide car bombers struck Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's convoy in Rawalpindi, killing at least seven people and damaging three vehicles in the motorcade including his own.

"The President and all his companions are safe and sound," Major-General Shaukat Sultan told Reuters.

Al Qaeda has targeted Musharraf for joining a US-led war on terror following the September 11, 2001, suicide attacks on the United States. Washington blamed al Qaeda for the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

The Air France flights to Los Angeles were scrapped after US intelligence found the name of at least one person with suspected links to terror groups on passenger manifests.

As an extra precaution, the US Department of Homeland Security said extra sensors had been deployed to monitor the air for deadly microbes that could be used in an attack.

US officials relayed "credible, reliable" intelligence reports to France that extremist groups were planning "near-term simultaneous attacks that would rival September 11," a US official said.

Air France said it cancelled six departing and returning flights on December 24 and 25 at Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's request.

This week President Bush's administration raised the US terror alert to the second-highest level, saying it was necessary to guard against "al Qaeda's continued desire to carry out attacks against our homeland."

US officials have warned Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda might try to hijack aircraft in a repeat of the 2001 attacks.

Bin Laden is believed to be hiding somewhere in the rugged mountain border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where Musharraf survived Thursday's assassination bid only 200 yards away from a December 14 attempt on his life.
"Two suicide attackers in two cars tried to hit the president's vehicle. God has saved him. Three cars of the cavalcade, including the president's car, were damaged," said Information Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed.

In an audiotape released two months ago, bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, called for Musharraf's ouster. In the December 14 attack, a series of explosions ripped apart a bridge just after the Pakistani president's motorcade crossed it.

In a Christmas message, Pope John Paul asked God to save humanity from the scourge of terrorism and wars he said were laying waste to many parts of the planet.

In Britain, police said on Thursday they were tightening security at the US embassy in response to Washington's warnings about possible terror attacks against Americans during the Christmas period.

Authorities in Cyprus, a major tourist destination in the Mediterranean, said they had tightened security around British and American interests in the past week.

In Sweden, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday a Swedish citizen had been detained in Montreal, Canada, on suspicion of links to what Canadian authorities classify as a terror group.