ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP)

Rescuers pulled more bodies from the shell of the truck-bombed Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital yesterday, pushing the death toll from one of the country's worst-ever terrorist strikes to 53, including the Czech ambassador.

The hotel, a favourite spot for foreigners and the Pakistani elite - and a previous target of militants - still smoldered from a fire that raged for hours after the previous day's explosion, which also wounded more than 250 people.

The targeting of the American hotel chain came at a time of growing anger in the Muslim nation over a wave of cross-border strikes on militant bases in Pakistan by US forces in Afghanistan.

Suspicion

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, though suspicion fell on al-Qaida and the Pakistani Taliban. Analysts said the attack served as a warning from Islamic militants to Pakistan's new civilian leadership to stop cooperating with the US-led war on terror.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the bomber had attacked the hotel only after tight security prevented him from reaching Parliament or the prime minister's office, where the president and many dignitaries were gathered for dinner.

"The purpose was to destabilise democracy," Gilani said. "They want to destroy us economically."

However, the owner of the hotel accused security forces of a serious lapse in allowing a dump truck to approach the hotel unchallenged and not shooting the driver before he could trigger the explosives.

"If I were there and had seen the suicide bomber, I would have killed him. Unfortunately, they didn't," Sadruddin Hashwani said.