French bomb victims honoured

Pakistan yesterday said it had conferred honours on 23 French nationals killed or injured in a terrorist attack in Karachi in May. The announcement coincided with the 55th Independence day celebrations.

The awards are in recognition of the "supreme sacrifice" made by 11 French engineers killed and 12 others seriously injured in the May 8 suicide bombing, an official statement said.

The statement said the dead would be awarded the Star of Pakistan while those injured would receive the Pakistan Medal for "rendering meritorious services" in connection with a joint Pakistan-French submarine project.

The award ceremony will be held at the Pakistan Embassy in Paris on a date to be announced later.

Pakistan's second Agosta 90B class submarine is now ready for launch. The submarine is equipped with four bow torpedo tubes and missiles, with its fighting capacity coordinated by the French-made Submarine Tactical Integrated Combat System.

The vessel was manufactured at a Naval Shipyard near Karachi in partnership with French state-owned shipbuilding firm Direction des Construction Navales (DCN).

Talking to reporters after meeting the 12 injured French citizens and visiting the scene of the massive blast, newly appointed French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie dismissed concerns the attack would damage bilateral relations.

"If certain people had hoped to strain links between France and Pakistan, they were mistaken," she said.

"The current agreements will be pursued," she added, referring to a military cooperation pact reached in 1994 for the joint construction of three Agosta 90B class submarines.

All of DCN's French staff were pulled out of Pakistan after the September 11 attacks on the United States, but some had returned earlier this year.