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Militants die bomb factory { December 19 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-121902bomb_wr,0,3762214.story?coll=la%2Dhome%2Dheadlineshttp://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-121902bomb_wr,0,3762214.story?coll=la%2Dhome%2Dheadlines
UPDATE
Militants Killed at Secret Bomb Factory
Terrorism: A blast ends a manhunt for Asif Ramzi, a suspect in both the Daniel Pearl killing and a consulate bombing that killed 14 people. Ramzi's body was found in the ruins.
From Associated Press
December 19 2002, 10:59 AM PST
KARACHI, Pakistan -- A chemical-filled clandestine bomb factory exploded today in Karachi, killing at least five suspected Islamic militants-- including one linked to the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and the June bombing of the U.S. Consulate in this city.
The powerful explosion reduced the chemical storage warehouse in the eastern Korangi neighborhood of Karachi to rubble, and police sifting through the wreckage found more high-grade explosives and a rocket-propelled grenade.
"There is a possibility that the people inside the building were trying to make an explosive device and it went off," said Karachi Police Chief Asad Ashraf Malik.
The blast ended a months-long manhunt for Asif Ramzi, a suspect in both the Pearl killing and the consulate bombing that killed 14 people. Ramzi's body was found in the ruins, Deputy Inspector of Police Fiaz Leghari told reporters.
The identities of the four others were not known.
The single-story building was used both as a residence and as a storage area rented out to a pharmaceutical company, police said.
Inside, police found 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of explosives and a grenade of the type used in a failed terror attack last year at the Karachi international airport. They also found 60 sacks of an unidentified white powder that has been submitted for analysis.
Ramzi was the subject of a massive manhunt. Police in Pakistan had offered a reward of three million rupees (US$50,000) for his capture. He was believed to be a member of the violent Lashkar-e-Janghvi group, Leghari said.
"We believed that he was responsible for many explosions in Karachi," he said.
"Whenever we made any arrest, the suspect mentioned the name of Asif Ramzi," Leghari said. "This man is very important, and we are now trying to identify the other four bodies."
Police found the bodies-- and a fake identity card of a person named Mohammed Babar. They then went Babar's Karachi address-- and found out that he was still alive. "That drew our attention," Leghari said.
"Later, when we matched the photo of the dead Babar (on the identity card) with the most-wanted terrorists, we saw that the dead man was in fact Asif Ramzi," Leghari said.
The U.S. Consulate was targeted in June by a suicide bomber that killed 14 Pakistanis. Pearl was kidnapped in January and his body discovered two months later. A videotape showing his execution was given to the U.S. Consulate in Karachi.
Several men have been arrested in connection with Pearl's killing. One of them, British-born Omar Saeed Sheikh, has been sentenced to death.
Last weekend the Karachi police arrested several men in connection with a plot to blow up U.S. diplomats. They found 250 bags of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer used to make explosives.
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