France on Wednesday demanded Pakistan make all efforts to identify and punish the perpetrators of the car bomb attack that killed 13 persons, including 11 French individuals, in Karachi.
French President Jacques Chirac condemned the attack as "vile" and sent his newly appointed defense minister to Pakistan.
"We demand the Pakistani authorities make all efforts to capture and punish those responsible," said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau. "We assured them of our full cooperation."
The French consular in Karachi has demanded the Pakistani authorities reinforce security measures immediately to protect the French community, said the spokesman.
A car bomb exploded near the Sheraton hotel in Karachi early Wednesday morning. In addition to the deaths, 20 people were injured, 12 of them French.
Most of the French victims were engineers and workers from the Direction of Naval Construction (DCN), a shipbuilder connected with the French Defense Ministry.
Earlier on Wednesday, the DCN announced in Cherbourg, west France, that among the four seriously injured French, two were "in very serious condition."
Musharraf promised to fight back. "We feel this act of international terrorism has to be met with full force. My government has the complete resolve of meeting this threat," he said without elaborating.
"I would appeal to the international community to understand our domestic environment resulting from our cooperation against international terrorism," Musharraf said.
(Xinhua News Agency May 9, 2002)
