We did bombing, Al-Qaida-linked militants admit



ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- A militant group claimed responsibility in the name of Al-Qaida on Saturday for a failed assassination attempt against Pakistan's prime minister-designate, threatening more attacks unless Pakistan stops handing captured militants to the United States.
The suicide bombing targeting Shaukat Aziz after a campaign rally killed at least nine people and wounded three dozen others. It came hours after Pakistan announced the capture of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, an Al-Qaida suspect on the FBI's list of top wanted terrorists.
Pakistani officials said the attack had Al-Qaida's fingerprints -- which would make it the latest attempt Osama bin Laden's terror network has been blamed for in trying to take out Pakistan's leadership. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf survived two attempts to kill him in December, one of which killed 17 people.
Musharraf has been a top U.S. ally in the war on terror, infuriating Muslim radicals in Pakistan and elsewhere, and his security services have arrested a number of top Al-Qaida-linked figures, most recently Ghailani.
In a statement on an Islamic Web site, a group calling itself the "Islambouli Brigades of Al-Qaida" said it was behind Friday's blast.
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