From CNN, :
Police in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi say they have defused a large bomb found in a stolen minivan parked outside the U.S. Consulate.
Two men left the vehicle parked next to the consulate perimeter wall Monday morning, and when questioned by police said it had broken down, promising to return to fix it.
In the back of the van, police found a large blue tank filled with nearly 200 gallons (750 liters) of liquid explosives, which was hooked up to a timer and two detonators.
Bomb disposal experts were called in and deactivated the device.
The van was stolen Sunday in a carjacking that left the owner hospitalized with a bullet in his leg, a police investigator told CNN.
The thief changed the license plates.
Police have released a composite sketch of the van’s driver.
“We saved this place from big destruction,” Karachi police official Mohammed Irfan said, according to The Associated Press.
Islamic militants were blamed for a suicide truck bombing in June 2002 in front of the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, which killed at least 12 Pakistanis.
In February 2002, gunmen killed two police officers outside the consulate, wounding five other officers and a civilian.
Monday’s incident comes days ahead of a visit from U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Powell is set to visit the capital, Islamabad, on Wednesday but will not visit Karachi. He is also set to take in India and Afghanistan.