Pakistan bomb suspect remanded

Zaheer (covered) was remanded for identification

A Pakistani militant suspected of involvement in a deadly car bomb attack has been remanded in custody for another week.

A court in Karachi extended the detention of Asif Zaheer until at least 13 January to allow witnesses to take part in identification.

The Sheraton attack killed 11 French engineers

The car bomb ripped apart a Pakistani navy bus outside the Sheraton hotel on 8 May last year, killing 14 people, including 11 French engineers.

Zaheer, 28, was arrested last month on suspicion of planning to ram an explosives-laden car into a US diplomatic vehicle in Karachi.

Regret

Police say he has confessed to planting explosives in the Sheraton car bomb attack, although he has not yet been charged.

He is the only person to have been arrested in connection with the killings.

Zaheer reportedly told police he received training at a camp of the extremist group, Harkatul Jihad-e-Islami, in Afghanistan.

He reportedly said he was determined to punish Americans for their military actions in Afghanistan.

An investigator said that during interrogation Zaheer admitted he had mistaken the Frenchmen for Americans and regretted killing "friends of Pakistan''.

The engineers were helping Pakistan's navy build an Agosta 90-B submarine.

On the court extension, public prosecutor Habib Ahmed said: ''Police need to conduct further inquiries and certain witnesses who are not available in Karachi need to identify the accused, that's why they sought prolonged remand.''

It was the second time in two weeks that the court had granted such a request.

Under Pakistan's anti-terrorism law, a suspect can be held for a year without being charged.