Female bomber attacks major Pakistani politician

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) -- A government official says a female suicide bomber in northwest Pakistan detonated her explosives near the convoy of a former leader of the country's largest Islamist party.

Shamsur Rehman Khan says Qazi Husain Ahmad, the former chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, escaped unhurt from the attack Monday in the Mohmand tribal region. Three of his aides were wounded.

Khan, who is a government administrator in Mohmand, says the bomber was wearing an all-encompassing burqa and had explosives strapped to her body.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud reportedly criticized Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan and singled out Ahmad in particular in a recent audio message, accusing him of supporting Pakistan's U.S.-allied rulers.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)