The death toll stood at 53 last night, including four foreigners: two U.S. soldiers who worked at the embassy, and the newly arrived Czech ambassador and his Vietnamese girlfriend. At least 266 were injured. The bombing on Saturday night was the biggest such blast ever in Pakistan.

According to investigators, about 600 kilograms of explosives were used, together with mortar shells, and aluminum powder that acted as a fire accelerant, indicating that the massive fire which subsequently engulfed the hotel was planned.

"The footprints seem to be Taliban and al-Qaeda," said Talat Masood, a retired general turned security analyst. "The message is very clear. The militants are saying that we are so powerful, we can attack anywhere at any time, and we will continue to do so unless you halt your military operations."

The interior ministry chief, Rehman Malik, told a news conference that suspicions fell on militants based in Waziristan, the wildest part of Pakistan's tribal border area with Afghanistan - where Washington believes al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters enjoy sanctuary.

"All roads lead to Waziristan," Mr. Malik said. "Our enemies don't want to see democracy flourishing in the country."

Security camera footage released yesterday showed pandemonium at the hotel gates after a dumper truck rammed into the retractable metal barrier there. It also showed several vital minutes that could have been used to evacuate the hotel were wasted as security guards advanced and retreated from the vehicle, confused. There was a small blast inside the truck and it caught fire as the bomber within apparently detonated his suicide vest. A security guard could be seen spraying a fire extinguisher pointlessly against a growing fireball. Finally, the fire caused the explosive payload to go off, but the video footage stops just before the blast.

Had the truck made it past the gates, the carnage would have been multiplied many times over.

Mr. Malik said the truck was a "perfect deception" as it appeared to be serving a nearby building site. He rejected foreign offers of help with the probe now under way.

"We do get information about threats, all the time, but they are sketchy," Mr. Malik said. "Our [security] agencies are fully competent and they will prove that when they investigate."

The presence of large numbers of foreigners at the Marriott at any given time may have contributed to its appeal as a target for the extremists. It was one of the few places to have a bar in a country where alcohol is banned for the majority Muslim population. Poolside was one of the only spots in conservative Pakistan where bikini-clad women could be found.

It was in the hotel that the wife and children of al-Qaeda supporter Ahmed Said Khadr, a now-dead Canadian with close ties to Osama bin Laden, confronted visiting prime minister Jean Chrétien in January of 1996. Maha Elsamnah convinced Mr. Chrétien to intervene in her husband's case and persuade Pakistan to drop charges against Mr. Khadr related to the 1995 bombing of the Egyptian embassy, just a few blocks from the Marriott.

[Special to The Globe and Mail September 22, 2008]