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Freed Pakistan Islamist leader escapes blast claimed by Taliban; 4 police wounded

By RIAZ KHAN,Associated Press Writer AP - Tuesday, June 10

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Pakistan's Taliban movement claimed responsibility for a bomb blast Monday that targeted a police convoy but nearly killed a recently freed hard-line cleric traveling with them.

Four police were wounded in the explosion in the Lower Dir area of the country's volatile northwest, police said.

Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar said the Islamist leader, Sufi Muhammad, was not the target. He advised the elderly Muhammad not to travel with security forces.

Muhammad leads the Tehrik-e-Nafaz Shariat Muhammadi, or the Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Law. He sent thousands to battle the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

Pakistan freed Muhammad earlier this year from six years in custody in return for his group's agreement to renounce violence.

The agreement came as the government pursued peace deals with militants in the northwest, a move Western officials warned might give the extremists time to regroup.

It was not immediately clear why Muhammad was traveling with the police. Police official Anwar Khan said the nature of the blast was unclear, but Umar said it was remote-controlled.

Umar said the blast was carried out in revenge for government actions against militants in parts of the northwest.

The attack raised doubts about the viability of efforts by Pakistan's new government to reach peace with militants. It was negotiating with elders from the Mehsud tribe in an attempt to rein in the leader of the Taliban movement in Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud.

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Associated Press Writer Habibullah Khan contributed to this report.

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