CAIRO, Egypt – A militant group posted a Web site statement Saturday in the name of Al Qaeda (search) claiming responsibility for an attempt to assassinate Pakistan's prime minister-designate.
The statement said Friday's attack on Shaukat Aziz (search) was a response to Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's (search) transferring wanted militants to U.S. custody.
"One of our blessed battalions tried to hunt a head of one of America's infidels in Pakistan while he was returning from Fateh Jang, but God wanted him to survive," the statement said, referring to the town near the Pakistani capital where the homicide attack took place.
Written in Arabic, the message was posted on a Web site known for carrying messages from Islamic militant groups.
It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the claim by the group, which calls itself the Islambouli Brigades of Al Qaeda. Lt. Khaled Islambouli was the leader of the group of soldiers who assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (search) during a military parade in Cairo in 1981.
Addressing Musharraf and the Pakistani government, the statement said "this operation yesterday will be followed by a series of painful strikes if you don't stop what you are doing by complying to the wicked Bush's orders."
The group said it was giving the government a "period of truce" until it stops handing over militants and "behaves in a different way."
It accused Shaukat Aziz, currently the finance minister, of being "a follower of the wicked Bush and his cronies."
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