Top PLO official killed in Lebanon bombing

A top Palestinian official and three other people were killed in a roadside bombing outside a restive refugee camp in southern Lebanon on Monday. Skip related content

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Senior Palestine Liberation Organisation official Kamal Medhat, two of his bodyguards and another Palestinian official were travelling in a convoy when the bomb exploded at the entrance of the Mieh Mieh camp near the coastal town of Sidon, an army spokesman told AFP.

"The bomb was apparently hidden in a little shed on the side of the road and was detonated as Medhat's convoy drove by," he said.

Medhat, who was a close aide to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, is the highest ranking Palestinian official killed in Lebanon since the PLO was forced to pull out of the country in 1982 after the Israeli invasion.

Medhat, 58, was the PLO's deputy representative in Lebanon and also a former intelligence chief for the mainstream Fatah movement in the country.

Abbas Zaki, the Palestinian Authority's representative in Lebanon, blamed Israel for the killing and warned it would have serious repercussions in Lebanon and the Palestinian camps.

"Those behind the killing are working in one way or another for Israel," said Zaki, who had left the camp in another vehicle just minutes before the blast. "We are trying to calm the situation inside the camps."

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who is also the head of the PLO, "condemned this terrorist crime," according to a statement from his office. The militant group Hezbollah said the attack bore "the fingerprints of the Zionists and was aimed at sowing discord."

The bomb, made up of more than 20 kilos (44 pounds) of TNT, was detonated by remote control, Munir Maqdah, who is in charge of security at Lebanon's refugee camps, told AFP.

The other victims were identified as Akram Daher, who was in charge of the PLO's youth organisation in Lebanon, and bodyguards Khaled Daher and Mohammed Shehadeh.

Maqdah said three people in a second car were seriously wounded.

The force of the blast tore through Medhat's Mercedes and hurled it into a nearby olive grove, an AFP correspondent witnessed.

Tensions have been running high in Mieh Mieh where two people died at the weekend in an apparent settling of accounts between rival clans.

Medhat "was on his way out of the camp where he had visited officials in a bid to ease the tension," Hisham el-Debsi, a PLO official, told AFP.

Medhat, also known as Kamal Naji, was a close aide to Arafat when the PLO chief was leading his guerrilla war against Israel from Lebanon.

The representative of the Palestinian Islamist faction Hamas in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, condemned the killing, saying it was aimed at creating discord in the Palestinian camps, considered breeding grounds for extremism.

Tension between Fatah and Islamist groups inside the camps has run high in the past year, with clashes and attacks leaving at least 12 dead.

The Lebanese army does not enter the camps, leaving responsibility for security to Palestinian factions.

The explosive situation was starkly brought to light in 2007 during fierce battles at the Nahr el-Bared camp in northern Lebanon between the army and Fatah al-Islam, an Al-Qaeda-inspired militia.

The fighting killed 400 people including 168 soldiers, and led to the army entering a Palestinian camp for the first time since the 1975-1990 civil war.

According to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), there are between 350,000 and 400,000 refugees in Lebanon -- a country of more than four million inhabitants -- most of them living in the 12 camps.

Other estimates put the number of refugees at 200,000 to 250,000 as UNRWA does not strike from its lists the names of those who emigrate.

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Opposition cries foul at Georgia arrests

Georgia's opposition accused police of making politically motivated arrests Monday after some of its supporters were detained for allegedly seeking to buy arms ahead of protests next month. Skip related content

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Interior ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili told AFP that several people, including some members of a leading opposition party, had been arrested Monday for attempting to buy automatic weapons.

"This operation was not aimed against any political party or the demonstration. We are not going to restrict demonstrations. What we are going to do is make sure that nobody gets shot and that we don't end up in large-scale violence," he said.

He said further details of the arrests would be released later.

The opposition Democratic Movement - United Georgia, led by former parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze, said that nine of its supporters had been detained in an early morning raid on the home of the party's chairman in the Ajara region, Zurab Avaliani.

"The government of Georgia has resorted to illegal and deplorable methods to fight its political opponents," the party said in a statement. "The police regime has launched a full-scale attack against the Democratic Movement - United Georgia."

The party also said that one of its offices near Tbilisi had been illegally searched "which allegedly resulted in 'finding' arms".

Georgian opposition groups are preparing to launch a series of protests on April 9 aimed at toppling President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Pressure has been mounting on Saakashvili since Georgia's war last year with Russia, with many here, including some top former allies, accusing him of mishandling the conflict.

Georgia's intelligence chief Gela Bezhuashvili on Friday alleged that Russia was seeking to sow "internal disorder and destabilisation" in the country.

Georgian officials have repeatedly hinted at links between the opposition and Moscow, which government critics say is part of a smear campaign to undermine their support.

Georgia has seen repeated political violence since gaining its independence with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and some fear April's protests could spark further unrest.

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Brit Arrested In Crete Over Child Rape Site

A Scottish man living in Crete has been arrested by police investigating a website offering viewers scenes of child rapes. Skip related content

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Brit Arrested In Crete Over Child Rape Site

Greek police arrested the 27-year-old man - living with his parents - after a tip off from international authorities.

A Greek national was also detained and then released after an initial search of his computer yielded nothing.

"They are still searching both men's hard discs for extra evidence," a police official said.

"They are checking if they had accessed a website where on-line visitors pay to watch live rapes of children."

In 2007 Greece's conservative government passed a law which imposes sentences of up to life imprisonment for crimes related to child pornography.

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Big launch for car with tiny price

The world's cheapest car has been launched in the Indian city of Mumbai. Skip related content

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Tata Motors, India's top vehicle maker, unveiled the Nano in a move that could dramatically change the auto market in the world's second most populous nation.

The four-seater Nano had been due to go on sale in late 2008 but a dispute about the relocation of its manufacturing plant from West Bengal to Gujarat delayed proceedings.

Nanos will be rolled out from Tata Motors' existing car factories in Pune in western India and Pantnagar in the north, and are expected to go on sale from around mid-2009.

The ex-factory price is 100,000 rupees (£1,400). Customers will then have to add on dealer charges and taxes, taking the on-the-road price to 130,000 rupees (£1,767), according to dealers.

However, customers could face a three-year wait for the vehicle, according to analysts.

One Mumbai resident, Sushant Vagel, said: "It is the world's cheapest car and it is useful for middle class people like me and I am definitely planning to buy this car."

Another local, Devndra Arya, said: "The dream car that Tata has launched for the common man, we want to thank Tata for that."

Analysts estimate only about 50,000 cars will be available in the first year until the 250,000 capacity unit in Gujarat comes on-stream.

Tata Motors Chairman Rata Tata has said his inspiration for the cheap car was the common sight of a family of four riding on a motorbike.

The Nano has an all sheet metal body and safety features include crumple zones, intrusion resistant doors, seat belts, strong seats and anchorages. Tata says its tubeless tyres, apart from reducing friction, provide better balance and stability.

A version for the European markets, Tata Nano Europa, will have even more stringent safety standards with anti-lock brake systems and airbags. This version also has low carbon dioxide emission of less than 100 grams per kilometre.

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Scottish man held on child porn charges

A Scottish man has been arrested by Greek police on suspicion of trafficking child porn over the internet. Skip related content

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Scottish man held on child porn charges

Police on the island of Crete, where the 27-year-old man lives with his parents, were tipped off by international authorities, officials said.

Evidence of pornographic activity was found on his computer, police said.

A Greek national was also detained and then released after an initial search of his computer yielded nothing.

A police official said: "They are still searching both men's hard discs for extra evidence. They are checking if they had accessed a website where on-line visitors pay to watch live rapes of children."

In 2007 Greece's conservative government passed a law which imposes sentences of up to life imprisonment for crimes related to child pornography.

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Robot model no challenge yet to human rivals

It may have been a fashion first, but supermodel Naomi Campbell has nothing to fear. Skip related content

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HRP-4C humanoid robot appears on the runway at the Shinmai Creator's Project fashion show …More Enlarge photo

The HRP-4C humanoid robot showed off her stormtrooper-like silver and black frame and bowed to a fashion-savvy audience at the start of the annual Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo -- but even her creators admit the mechanical model needs more work.

The HRP-4C has battery-powered motors in her body and face, allowing her to imitate the expressions, gait and poses of a supermodel --- up to a point.

"Our robot can't move elegantly like the real models that are here today," Shuji Kajita, director of humanoid robot engineering at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), told Reuters. "It'll take another 20 to 30 years of research to make that happen."

The 158 cm (5 ft 2 inch) high-tech model weighed in at 43 kg (95 lb), slimmed down from earlier versions just in time for her catwalk debut at one of Japan's biggest fashion events.

AIST designers say the eyes, face and hair of the robot, which cost about $2 million to develop, are based on Japanese "anime" cartoon characters.

Japan, home to almost half of the world's 800,000 industrial robots, expects the industry to expand to $10 billion in the future including models that can care for its fast-growing elderly population.

(Writing by Michael Caronna and Linda Sieg; Editing by Rodney Joyce)

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Singapore eases law on political films

Singapore passed an amended law on Monday to ease an 11-year-old ban on films that promote a politician or political party, but the amendments also introduce restrictions on dramatized political videos. Skip related content

The relaxation of rules on political films was meant to keep up with the spread of video and other news content on the Internet, but these had to be "held in accordance with the law," Lui Tuck Yew, a junior minister at the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, told parliament.

The amended Films Act allows films that are factual and objective, and do not dramatize or present a distorted picture of politics in Singapore, Lui said.

"Films with animation and dramatization and distort what is real or factual will be disallowed, as the intent of the amendments is to ensure that these films do not undermine the seriousness of political debate," he said.

The southeast Asian city-state, which has been ruled by the People's Action Party for more than 40 years, had banned the production and screening of all political films, imposing a maximum fine of S$100,000 ($73,000) or a two-year jail term on offenders.

The ban came into effect in 1998, two years after the opposition Singapore Democratic Party applied for a license to sell a videotape about the party.

Public gatherings of more than four people without permits are also banned, making it difficult for opposition politicians to reach out to voters.

The amended bill won overwhelming support in a parliament that has been dominated by the PAP since Singapore's independence in 1965.

Nominated member of parliament Siew Kum Hong, who opposed the bill, said the amendments did not go far enough as it would still allow the prosecution of people who film political rallies without realizing whether the event was lawful or not.

"Singaporeans are today far more sophisticated and media savvy than before and should be trusted for the merit and demerit of films for themselves," he told parliament.

Martyn See, a Singaporean film-maker who had two films banned by authorities because of their political content, called the law "regressive."

"It shows off a government that is incapable of trusting its own citizens to watch political films."

(Reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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Zardari woos opposition to end Pakistan crisis

President Asif Ali Zardari called for reconciliation in a speech to the nation Monday, seeking to mend fences with the opposition in a country threatened by economic crisis and growing Islamist militancy. Skip related content

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A suicide bomber killed a policeman outside a police station in Islamabad hours after the appeal, highlighting the violence that has spread to major cities from tribal regions.

Zardari, seeking to secure his power and avert a looming violent street confrontation, ordered the reinstatement of Iftikhar Chaudhry as Supreme Court chief justice a week ago.

But tension lingers between Zardari's party and its main rival, the party of former prime minister and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, in particular over control of Punjab, Pakistan's most populous and most politically influential province.

Pakistan's Western allies fear political upheaval distracts the nuclear-armed country, a key U.S. ally, from fighting Islamist militancy and reviving its flagging economy.

"On this day I urge everyone to work in the spirit of tolerance, mutual accommodation and respect for dissent and invite every one to participate in the national effort for ... reconciliation and healing the wounds," Zardari said on Pakistan Day, which commemorates the original 1940 appeal for creation of a Muslim state in south Asia.

Zardari, whose party heads a civilian government that came to power a year ago after eight years of military rule, said the rule of law and constitutionalism had at times been "trampled by dictators," a cycle that he said had to come to an end.

The restoration of Chaudhry and other judges had raised the expectation of the people that the cycle was ending, he said.

Sunday, Zardari, the widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, delivered a message of reconciliation to Sharif through Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

Sharif welcomed the call, saying reconciliation was the "need of the time."

DIVISIVE ISSUES

Despite that, potentially divisive issues remain including the question of Sharif's eligibility for elected office and who controls Punjab province.

The Supreme Court ruled on February 25 that Sharif and his politician brother, Shahbaz, were ineligible to hold elected office. The ruling nullified a by-election victory by Shahbaz Sharif and disqualified him from being chief minister of Punjab.

The Sharif party's government was thrown out of power in the province and Zardari imposed central rule there for two months.

The Sharifs said Zardari was behind the ruling, which they said was based on old convictions they say were politically motivated, and they threw their wholehearted support behind a protest campaign by lawyers seeking Chaudhry's restoration.

In a step towards dispelling mistrust, the government asked the Supreme Court Saturday to suspend the ruling while an appeal against it is heard.

The government also says it wants to lift central rule, known as governor's rule, in Punjab as soon as possible. Sharifs' party is expected again to lead a coalition government there.

Pakistan's main stock market index got a boost last Monday when the political crisis was defused and investors were subsequently encouraged by hope for lower interest rates, dealers said.

Financial markets were closed Monday for the Pakistan Day holiday.

(Editing by Robert Birsel and Paul Tait)

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Alaska's Redoubt volcano erupts, more may follow

After several weeks of tremors and intermittent steaming, Alaska's Mount Redoubt volcano erupted with a burst of ash that rose more than 9 miles (15 km) with more eruptions expected. Skip related content

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The first blast occurred at 10:38 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday (5:38 a.m. British time Monday), the Alaska Volcano Observatory said, followed by four smaller eruptions.

The 10,197-foot (3,108-metre) volcano, located 106 miles (170 km) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, had been showing signs of a pending eruption for about two months. So far Anchorage has been untouched by harmful volcanic ash.

"There were five explosive events," said Tina Neal, a geologist at the Alaska Volcano Observatory, each lasting about 10 to 20 minutes.

"Each event sent up an ash cloud as high as 50,000 (15,240 meters) and possibly 60,000 feet (18,288 meters)," Neal said.

The observatory issued a red aviation code, warning airlines to steer planes clear of the area.

The bulk of the ash was blown at the 30,000-foot level, and is not reaching well-populated areas, Neal said. It was blowing north-northeast and had been reported in the tiny community of Skwentna and possibly in Talkeetna.

"The volcano is still restless," she said. "We'll be watching it very closely. It is highly unstable still and further eruptions are likely."

The latest round of seismic activity at Redoubt started in January, prompting the Alaska Volcano Observatory to put it on an alert status and, at times, have staff on duty around the clock.

Residents of Anchorage and other communities in the region had prepared for an eruption by buying breathing masks for possible ash contamination and stocking up on some food and water.

The volcano last rumbled to life in December 1989, erupting multiple times over a period of weeks. The eruptions sent ash plumes almost 8 miles high and the first event nearly downed a KLM jetliner.

(Editing by Bill Rigby and Bill Trott)

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US Teenager Is Killed By Police Taser Gun

A 15-year-old boy has died in America after being Tasered by police trying to break up a fight. Skip related content

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US Teenager Is Killed By Police Taser Gun

The teenager from Bay City, Michigan, was involved in an argument at an apartment in the city in the early hours of Sunday morning.

After police arrived the boy allegedly tried to fight the officers before the Taser gun was used on him.

Police immediately called for emergency medical help after the boy's violent reaction to being Tasered.

He was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after.

One officer involved in the incident has been placed on administrative leave as a result of the boy's death.

An Amnesty International report claims that more than 300 people have been killed after being Tasered since 2001 in the US.

The report claims many of the deaths involved people who were unarmed and did not appear to present a serious threat.

An inquiry is currently taking place in Canada after the death of a Polish immigrant at Vancouver airport in 2007.

Robert Dziekanski died after being hit several times with a police stun gun and it is alleged that police failed to perform proper pulse or breath checks.

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Ski Trip Plane Crash: 'Jet Was Overloaded'

A plane that crashed into a cemetery in Montana killing 14 people, half of them children, was overloaded, officials have said. Skip related content

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Ski Trip Plane Crash: 'Jet Was Overloaded'

The single engine turboprop aircraft should not carry more than 11 people - two in the cockpit and nine passengers - the National Transport Safety Board said.

But on the journey from Oroville, California, to Bozeman, Montana, too many people were on board.

At some point, the plane made a detour to Butte, where it crashed into the Holy Cross cemetery, about 500 feet (150 metres) short of the runway at Bert Mooney airport.

Seven adults and seven children were killed in the crash, said Karen Byrd, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) operations officer.

Investigators believe the group were on a skiing trip.

Pictures from the scene showed towering flames shooting up behind the cemetery.

Onlooker Martha Guidoni, who took one of the photos, said: "We watched this plane just take a nosedive right into the cemetery."

She and her husband rushed to the scene of the crash to help those injured.

But she said: "We were too late. There was nothing to help."

Another witness Steve Guidoni said: "I looked to see if there was anybody I could pull out, but there was nothing there.

"I couldn't see nothing. Some luggage strewn around and fire. That was about it."

He said the plane left a hole 20 feet (six metres) deep in the ground.

:: Meanwhile, a FedEx cargo plane has crashed and burst into flames as it landed in heavy winds at Tokyo's international airport.

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Suicide attack kills guard in Islamabad

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a special police branch office, killing a guard and wounding at least two other people in Pakistan's capital during a public holiday Monday, officials said. Skip related content

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The bomber detonated his explosives at the entrance to the building, used by police intelligence and bomb disposal units, close to the Sitara market in the centre of Islamabad, officials said.

"One guard was killed and two or three wounded. The suicide bomber was killed," interior ministry chief Rehman Malik told private Geo television.

Police collected up the parts of the suicide bomber, including teeth set in raw, bloodied flesh splattered yards away from the site of the blast, putting them in a shopping bag, said an AFP reporter.

An AFP photographer saw another body, as rescue workers scrambled to the scene, behind a police and paramilitary cordon.

The attack late Monday came on Pakistan Day, a public holiday that marks the 1940 resolution calling for an independent Muslim state on the sub-continent, seven years before British rule ended and Pakistan was created.

"We ordered a high alert in Islamabad from morning because an investiture ceremony had been scheduled at the president's house on the occasion of Pakistan Day," Malik said condemning the "terrorist" attack.

The interior ministry chief said the bomber may have been roaming around the capital for several days.

"He apparently wanted to target senior officers," he said.

Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira issued a statement condemning the suicide attack "in which some lives have been lost and many others injured."

Pakistan, a key US ally, has been hit by around 200 suicide and bomb attacks that have killed more than 1,600 people since government forces fought radical gunmen holed up in a mosque in Islamabad in July 2007.

The United States is expected this week to unveil a new strategy for fighting Islamic extremists in Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan.

Much of the violence in Pakistan has been concentrated in the northwest of the country, where the army has been fighting Taliban hardliners and Al-Qaeda extremists after the 2001 US-led invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan.

The last suicide bombing in the vicinity of the capital killed 14 people outside a restaurant in the twin city of Rawalpindi last Tuesday.

The latest attack came with Pakistan apparently emerging from a political crisis that pushed the nuclear-armed Muslim nation to the brink of chaos.

President Asif Ali Zardari reached out to his political opponents Monday in a written appeal for reconciliation following the reinstatement of the country's chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, sacked in 2007.

The deeply unpopular Zardari came under Western pressure to reinstate Chaudhry and defuse a standoff with opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, to avert the possibility of violent protests in the capital Islamabad.

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Seven children among 14 killed in US plane crash

At least seven children were among those killed when a small airplane carrying 14 people crashed while trying to land in northern Montana, an official said Monday. Skip related content

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The plane, a Pilatus PC-12/45 single engine turboprop, left from Oroville airport, California, Sunday on a 900-mile (1,500-kilometer) flight to Bozeman in the northern state of Montana, said Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesman Les Dorr.

However, at some point the plane diverted to Butte, Montana, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of its original destination. As it approached Butte the plane crashed in a cemetery about 500 feet (150 meters) short of the runway of the airport, Dorr said.

There were seven children and seven adults aboard the doomed flight, said National Transportation and Safety Board spokesman Terry Williams.

"We think that it was probably a ski trip for the kids," another FAA spokesman, Mike Fergus, told AFP.

Witness Kenny Gulick, 14, said he thought he was watching a stunt plane because of how many turns it was making.

The pilot "jerked the plane to the left too quickly and lost control of it, but that's just my guess," Gulick told CBS.

"And all of a sudden it went into a nosedive. I noticed the pilot trying to pull up but he was extremely low to the ground and he didn't pull up in time."

At a press conference in Montana, NTSB official Mark Rosenker said that there were clear skies and a visibility of about 16 kilometers (10 miles) when the plane went down.

A team of NTSB specialists arrived on the site Monday to investigate the crash conditions.

Speculation has centered on whether the Pilatus PC-12 was carrying too heavy a load as experts said the plane could only carry 11 people.

"This aircraft is only certified for nine passengers," aviation attorney Mary Schiavo, a former federal inspector, said on CNN. "Granted, they said that they were children, but unless people were holding them in their laps, which is not a safe way to fly, only nine passengers and two crew," she said.

"The maximum weight when you're landing this plane, you're only allowed to have 9,000 pounds (4,000 kilograms) on it and the empty weight is almost 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms). So, that's not a lot of leeway."

A couple who witnessed the crash took a picture showing towering flames shooting up from the cemetery with a tree on fire.

Witness Steve Guidoni said he and his wife, Martha saw "everything was on fire," he told CNN.

"And there wasn't much left of the plane, actually. It was embedded in the ground. It went into the ground. It caught a big tree on fire.

"I looked to see if there was anybody I could pull out, but there wasn't nothing there. I couldn't see nothing. Some luggage strewn around and fire. That was about it. There was some plane parts."

He said the plane left a hole 20 feet (six meters) deep in the ground.

The Napa Valley Register, a California newspaper, reported on its website that the victims included a family of five from St. Helena, California with three preschoolers.

FAA spokesman Dorr said the plane was apparently owned by Eagle Cap Leasing from Enterprise, Oregon. He said it normally carries nine or 10 people, but that the fatal flight might have been configured to legally carry more passengers.

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At least 25 dead in Iraq suicide attack

At least 25 people were killed and 50 others were wounded in a suicide bomb attack as a Kurdish family was receiving condolences northeast of the Iraqi capital on Monday, local officials said. Skip related content

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The attack took place in Jalawla, 130 kilometres (80 miles) from Baghdad. Jalawla, in the dangerous province of Diyala, is home to a mixed population of Shiite Kurds and Sunni Arabs, many of them close to Al-Qaeda.

Mohammed Osman, a local official in Khanaqin north of Jalawla, told AFP the bomber wearing an explosives belt struck as a local family was receiving condolences.

Twenty-five people were killed and 50 wounded, a security official said. It was not immediately clear if a Kurdish communist chief, who was taking condolences over the death of his son, was among the casualties.

Earlier on Monday, eight people were killed and 16 wounded when a bomb exploded close to a car repair workshop near Abu Ghraib on the western outskirts of Baghdad, security officials said.

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Policeman Killed In Pakistan Suicide Blast

A suicide bomber has killed a policeman in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, police have said. Skip related content

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Policeman Killed In Pakistan Suicide Blast

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Two more people were reported to have been injured in the blast at a police station in the Sitara market neighbourhood.

Police said the policeman lost his life as the bomber attempted to enter a checkpoint at the gate of the station.

The bomber, who was on foot, blew himself up when he was halted.

From the scene, eyewitness Akmal Jamal told Sky News correspondent Alex Crawford: "I saw one man who was trying to go inside and he was stopped by a junior policeman or security guard.

"There was then a very huge fireball and I had to head under the ground.

"When we returned there was very bad smell of human flesh and we were told not to go inside."

All injured people have been taken from the scene, according to local media.

The city's minister said there had been a warning about a potential attack and police stations were on alert.

Today's attack came on a special celebration of the creation of the state, Pakistan Day.

Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsey, also in Islamabad, said he had recently been briefed of potential dangers.

"We were warned not to be in Rawalpindi when the long march was coming to an end and there was a warning the march would be attacked.

"The march was called off but there was still a suicide bomb that night."

Sky News presenter Jeremy Thompson, in Islamabad, said he had heard a "distant thud".

"We thought that perhaps it was a blast, which seems to have been confirmed by the sirens."

He said early reported from local media had suggested special branch officers may have been inside the building where the blast occurred.

Pakistan has seen a series of attacks by Islamist militants in recent years, including several in the capital.

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