Hunt for clues in Pakistan attack

Pakistani police are sifting evidence to try to determine who carried out a suicide bombing in Islamabad that killed 15 policemen.

Sunday's blast came on the first anniversary of the ending of a siege at the city's Red Mosque, in which more than 100 people died during fighting.

The mosque was stormed by Pakistani troops to evict militants who had taken sanctuary within its complex.

PM Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and President Musharraf condemned Sunday's attack.

The White House also denounced the bombing, saying it was a "needless act of violence".

Fiery rhetoric

Interior secretary Kamal Shah told AFP news agency that a team of senior policemen and special investigators has been formed to investigate the attack.

"At this stage it is too early to say who is behind it," he said.

Officials said that the blast happened 15 minutes after a meeting of several thousand Islamists near the mosque, which is also known as Lal Masjid, ended.

The meeting was held to mark the first anniversary of the ending of the siege.

A year ago, Pakistani army commandos stormed the mosque, which had been taken over by pro-Taleban clerics.

Islamist militants responded with a wave of suicide bombings around the country that killed around 1,000 people.

The anniversary demonstration itself was peaceful, but the rhetoric was fiery, with calls for revenge and a Muslim holy war.

No organisation has admitted carrying out the attack, but local media reports said the tone of the rally grew more heated after the arrival of banned militant groups suspected of being allied to or inspired by al-Qaeda, our correspondent adds.

Last year, al-Qaeda leaders had called on Pakistani Muslims to avenge the raid.

The bombing comes after a period of relative calm, with the country's newly elected government adopting a strategy of political negotiations and development to try to end Islamic militancy.