Danish embassy blast kills 8 in Pakistan

A suicide car bomb outside Denmark's embassy in Pakistan killed up to eight people and wounded 27 Monday in a possible new backlash over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), state media and officials said.

The massive blast damaged the mission in central Islamabad and nearly destroyed a nearby U.N. agency. Dozens of cars were also wrecked by the force of the explosion, which gouged a huge crater out of the road.

There was no claim of responsibility but officials said the attack was likely linked to the row over the Muhammad sketches, which Danish newspapers first published in 2005 and then reprinted in February.

Pakistani Taliban movement spokesman Maulvi Omar said he had "no knowledge" about the blast.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference condemned the bombing, saying it flouted Islamic tenets.

OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu was "deeply upset by this violent and extremist act," the 57-nation bloc said in a statement. "Islam rejects violence and terrorism in all its forms."

Ihsanoglu expressed sympathy for the victims' families.

In Denmark, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen condemned the "horrible, cowardly crime", telling reporters that there was no justification for the attack.

Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said the blast could be linked to recent calls by Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri for attacks on Danish targets because of the cartoons.

Denmark has some 550 troops with a NATO-led force in Afghanistan fighting a Taliban militant insurgency.

Moeller said a Pakistani cleaner employed at the embassy died and three local employees were hurt, but the embassy's four Danish staffers including the charge d'affaires were unharmed.

Pakistani government-run television and the state news agency said eight people died in all. Malik however said at least six were killed, including two policemen stationed at the embassy, and 27 wounded.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the blast, officials said.

The Danish embassy, located outside Islamabad's secure diplomatic enclave, shut briefly in February 2006 due to riots over the cartoons in Pakistan which left five people dead.

Denmark recently downgraded the embassy and moved out most foreign staff. In April, Denmark moved embassy staff in Algeria and Afghanistan to secret locations.

Hundreds of people staged a new protest against the cartoons in the central city of Multan on Monday, officials said.

The blast was the first in Islamabad since a bomb blast at an Italian restaurant frequented by foreigners on March 15 killed a Turkish woman and wounded 10 foreigners, including four US FBI staff.

Pakistan has experienced a lull in a year-long wave of suicide attacks since a new government came to power in March and began peace talks with Taliban militants based in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.