Al Qaeda behind attack on Karzai - Afghan spy chief

By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL, May 4 (Reuters) - Al Qaeda in Pakistan was behind last week's assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's intelligence chief said on Sunday.

The head of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security, Amrullah Saleh, said foreign governments should put pressure on Pakistan to destroy militant bases within its borders.

Taliban gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades and small arms at a state parade last Sunday, sending Karzai, his cabinet and military top brass as well as foreign diplomats diving for cover.

Three people were shot dead before Afghan troops killed three Taliban attackers.

Investigations by Afghan security forces showed that at least two officials from the defence and interior ministries were involved in the attack, Saleh said. The officials suspected of involvement have been arrested in recent days.

But he added they had links with al Qaeda in Miramshah, Pakistan's tribal region near the border with Afghanistan, and branded the network the mastermind of the attack, the most brazen by the Taliban since their ouster in 2001.

"Al Qaeda's role and involvement in the attack is very clear," Saleh told a news conference.

"They have bases (in Pakistan). They are supplied financially and logistically. They receive very sophisticated training ... We have always said that pressure on their bases, combined with our intelligence can destroy them," he added.