4 killed in suicide attack on Afghan politician

"There was a suicide attack this morning. Four people have died. The attack targeted Sebghatullah Mujadidi, who was not hurt," ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai said.

The dead were two attackers and two passers-by, one a young girl and the other an old man, Stanizai said.

Mujadidi, a former Afghan president, now heads the upper house of parliament. He was quoted as blaming Pakistani agents for the blast and Afghan President Hamid Karzai separately blamed unspecified foreigners.

A pick-up drove near Mujadidi's car and exploded, damaging the vehicle "but we were -- thanks be to God -- not hurt," said his bodyguard Baz Noor who was travelling in the same car.

An AFP photographer at the scene said the vehicle belonging to the attackers was destroyed with only the frame and burst tires to be seen.

It had a licence plate from the southern province of Kandahar, which is a stronghold of Taliban insurgents, said a government official who asked not to be named.

Mujadidi's vehicle was damaged on one side with one side window shattered. Three bodies, including those of the two attackers, could be seen near the site of the explosion.

Mujadidi also runs a reconciliation program aimed at reintegrating fighters from the Taliban regime, which was toppled by US-led forces in late 2001.

It was not immediately known who was behind the attack. Afghanistan has seen more than a dozen suicide attacks, most of them in the south, in recent months and nearly 50 people have died.

An aide to Mujadidi quoted him as telling visitors that the attack was planed by Pakistan's secret service Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

"Friends and relatives are coming to visit his excellency (Mujadidi). He is telling them that the attack was planned by foreigners and ISI of Pakistan," aide Mustafah Ghazi told AFP.

Mujadidi recently accused Pakistan of involvement in attacks in Afghanistan.

Karzai said authorities had been warned of a plot to target senior officials.

"We'd information since two months ago there were plans to attack high-ranking government personnel, particularly Hazrat Saheb (Mujadidi)," he told a press conference.