Military

DATE=5/9/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-289617

TITLE= PAK /BOMBING (L-O)

BYLINE=AYAZ GUL

DATELINE=ISLAMABAD

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Authorities in Pakistan have detained more than a hundred

suspected members of outlawed Islamic groups in connection with Wednesday's bomb attack. Fifteen people, including 11 French citizens died in the bombing outside a luxury hotel in southern city of Karachi. Ayaz Gul

reports from Islamabad.

TEXT: Pakistani officials say an investigation into the suicide car bomb

attack is continuing in Karachi. They say a large number of activists

allegedly belonging to extremist groups have been picked up in the

process.

Twelve French naval workers wounded in the deadly attack were flown back to France in a flying-military hospital on Thursday.

Earlier, French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie arrived in

Pakistan. She visited the wounded Frenchmen at a Karachi hospital before

their departure.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing. Three Pakistanis and the suicide attacker were among those killed in Wednesday's explosion outside the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi. Security has been tightened around major hotels in Pakistan.

The French nationals, who died, were working on a submarine project for the

Pakistani government.

Leaders in Pakistan and France say they suspect Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network is behind the bombing. French and reportedly U-S investigators have joined local authorities to trace that link.

Pakistan's support to international anti-terrorist efforts has outraged

many Islamic militants allegedly linked to al-Qaida.

The Karachi bombing is the second such incident this year targeting foreign

citizens in Pakistan. In March, five people were killed in a grenade

attack on an international church in Islamabad. A U-S embassy worker and

her daughter were among the dead. (SIGNED)

NEB/AG/RH