Czech ambassador killed in Islamabad Marriott suicide attack

"Ambassador Ivo Zdarek was killed in the terrorist attack in Pakistan on September 20," the ministry said on its website without giving any details.

Earlier the embassy’s number two Jarolav Kalfirt told AFP in Islamabad that Zdarek called his embassy moments after Saturday nights bombing from inside the hotel asking to be rescued, but he had not been heard from since.

The Czech public television CT 24 said police in Islamabad had found the diplomats body.

Rescue teams hunted for survivors Sunday in the ruins of Islamabad’s Marriott Hotel, where a massive truck bomb killed at least 60 people in what officials said looked like the work of al Qaeda.

Around 200 more were wounded in the suicide attack Saturday night in the heart of the capital, which came just hours after Pakistan’s new president gave his inaugural address to parliament and vowed to stamp out terrorism.

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The bombing also came on the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Ladens call for Pakistani Muslims to unleash jihad or holy war against the government, a vital ally in the U.S.-led "war on terror" that has cracked down on militants.

The brazen attack appeared to have been timed to inflict maximum casualties, ripping through the hotel when it was packed with families having dinner to break the daily fast in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"It has the hallmarks of Al-Qaeda," a senior official involved in the investigation told AFP. "It was an al Qaeda style bombing."

The official said investigators believe up to 600 kilos (1,300 pounds) of explosives were packed into the truck, which exploded in a giant fireball at the security gate and tore an enormous crater in the ground.

The blast ignited gas cylinders in the kitchen, setting off a blaze that swept through the 300-room hotel. A security official said some victims leapt to their deaths rather than be burnt alive on the upper floors.

Pieces of human flesh were still scattered outside the hotel on Sunday morning. The intense heat inside kept rescuers, who were wearing masks and chemical protection suits, from getting inside most of the destroyed building.

A senior security official said at least 60 people were dead. The government put the confirmed toll at 41, and it was not known how many people might still be unaccounted for.

Bodies pulled from the debris were burnt beyond recognition.

The Czech ambassador was missing at the hotel, which was popular with politicians, foreigners and the Pakistani elite. The embassy said he had telephoned from inside the burning hotel on Saturday night.

The bombing is a serious challenge to new President Asif Ali Zardari, who faces a desperate battle against al Qaeda and Taliban militants whose campaign of violence has killed 1,300 people in Pakistan this year.

"We will rid the country of this cancer," Zardari, who took office less than two weeks ago, said in a message to the nation after the attack. "I appeal to all democratic forces to come and save Pakistan."

But analysts say the ability to carry out such a massive bombing at one of the most secure sites in the capital, not far from parliament and the prime minister’s residence, is an unmistakable sign of the militants reach.

Zardari’s predecessor Pervez Musharraf turned Pakistan into a close ally of the United States after the September 11 attacks in 2001, and the government has waged a crackdown on militants in Pakistan’s volatile northwest.

That campaign has drawn the ire of many in Pakistan, the world’s only nuclear-armed Islamic nation, and critics say elements of the army and intelligence services are supporting the militants.

Many militants poured into the northwest tribal areas from across the border in Afghanistan when the United States invaded after 9/11, and much of the region is now effectively outside the Pakistani governments control.

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush says militants are using the area as a base of operations to lead the deadly insurgency in Afghanistan, and U.S. forces have fired missiles and even raided the region.

But even Zardari has warned that U.S. operations on Pakistani soil are unacceptable. The perceived violation of sovereignty, and the Pakistan armys campaign against militants, have infuriated many Pakistanis.

Exactly one year ago on Sept. 20, Bin Laden called on Muslims in Pakistan "to carry out jihad and fighting to remove (Musharraf), his government, his army and those who help him."

Zardari will meet Bush in New York this week for the first time since taking over the presidency. Bush, along with leaders from around the world, denounced the latest bombing.

"This attack is a reminder of the ongoing threat faced by Pakistan, the United States and all those who stand against violent extremism," he said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said: "No cause can justify the indiscriminate targeting of civilians."