WRAP Afghan intel chief blames militant ldr for attack, Norwegian FM meets Karzai
(15 Jan 2008) 1. Traffic outside Serena hotel where suicide attack occurred on Monday 2. Afghan security guard outside hotel 3. Close-up of Serena hotel sign 4. Various of exteriors of Serena hotel 5. Wide of news conference 6. Cutaway of media 7. SOUNDBITE: (Dari) Amrullah Saleh, Head of Afghanistan's Intelligence Service: "Four people were directly involved in this terrorist attack, one of them was responsible for transporting the three suicide bombers to the hotel, and the three suicide bombers tried to enter to the hotel after killing hotel security guards." 8. Various of video found by the police purportedly showing of the attackers the day before the attack 9. Wide of news conference 10. SOUNDBITE: (Dari) Amrullah Saleh, Head of Afghanistan's Intelligence Service:: "The third one (attacker) entered the hotel and opened fire on the guests and killed some of the them while he was trying to get to the gym." 11. Close-up of still from hotel security camera showing one the attackers dressed in police uniform in the hotel lobby 12. SOUNDBITE: (Dari) Amrullah Saleh, Head of Afghanistan's Intelligence Service: "According to our information three American citizens and one French lady were killed and one of the guards was killed in the initial attack." 13. Wide of news conference 14. Various of Norwegian Foreign Minster Jonas Gahr Stoere meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai STORYLINE: Afghanistan's intelligence service arrested a militant wearing a police uniform who took part in the multipronged attack on Kabul's main luxury hotel that killed eight people, officials said on Tuesday. However, confusion remained over the exact number of people who were killed in the attack. A notorious militant leader believed to be based in Pakistan was accused of masterminding the assault. Amrullah Saleh, the head of Afghanistan's intelligence service, said three militants stormed the Serena Hotel on Monday evening. A guard shot and killed one attacker at the gate to the hotel's parking lot, which triggered his suicide vest. A second attacker blew himself up near the entrance to the hotel's lobby, and the third attacker made it inside the hotel and shot his way through the lobby and toward the gym, Saleh said. A fourth man - believed to have driven the attackers to the Serena Hotel - was arrested in eastern Afghanistan while trying to flee to Pakistan. He said the attack was masterminded by Siraj Haqqanni, a well-known militant leader thought to be based in Pakistan's tribal area in Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan. The US military has a 200-thousand US dollar bounty on Haqqanni. Saleh showed a picture taken from the hotel's security cameras showing a man in a police uniform and holding a gun inside the hotel's lobby, apparently the third attacker. He was apprehended 15 to 20 minutes after the attack began, he said. Saleh also showed a video found by the police purportedly showing two of the attackers the day before the attack happened. Police said the video was found in a home in Kabul, where they detained two other men. Authorities raided the house where they say the attackers had spent the night before the strike. Police found a video showing two of the assailants, Farouq and Salahuddin, saying they were ready to die. The owner of the house and his brother were arrested. Saleh said three Americans and a French woman were among those killed, but the U.S. Embassy said only one American citizen died. The French embassy was not aware of any French casualties. Officials and experts in Norway said they had no information to that effect. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
