Indian police have released sketches of two suspects wanted in the bombing of the "Friendship Express" passenger train linking India and Pakistan.
At least sixty-seven people were killed and twenty others were injured when terrorists firebombed the train near Panipat, about eighty kilometers from Delhi. Most of the victims were Pakistanis. Thirteen of those killed were children.
The "Friendship Express" targeted by the bombers is a twice-weekly train service, one of only two rail links between India and Pakistan. Rail service was restarted in 2004 as part of the India-Pakistan peace process.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Mian Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri said the governments of India and Pakistan should not allow the perpetrators of the bombing to achieve their objective of disrupting the peace process. India's President A-P-J Kalam told the Indian parliament that the peace process with Pakistan should continue. "We should not allow this tragic event to affect our common quest for normalization of relations between India and Pakistan," said Mr. Kalam. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said his country will do "everything possible" to bring to justice those responsible for the bombing.
U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey commented on the terrorist attack:
"There is no political justification for violence against innocent people. Such acts only serve terrorists' efforts to spread fear, generate hate, and limit freedoms. We will continue to support and work with both India and Pakistan in their efforts to halt extremism and counter terrorist threats."
The U.S. believes such acts can only strengthen the resolve of all well-intentioned people to defeat terror and achieve peace.
