KARACHI, Aug 18: An intelligence agency has handed over six suspects, belonging to a proscribed jihadi outfit, to police in connection with the March 2 suicide attack outside the US consulate.

“We have made progress in the US consulate suicide blast case and arrested six suspects,” said a senior police official, requesting anonymity.

Sources said that six suspects belonging to Jaish-i-Muhammad had been arrested by personnel of an intelligence agency.

However, it was not clear where and when those suspects were arrested.

Jaish tops the list of militant groups believed to be behind the assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf in December 2003. Jaish and some other outfits were banned in 2002.

The sources said that an Uzbek national was arrested a few months ago from an area bordering Afghanistan and he provided vital clues to interrogators in connection with the attack on the US consulate.

The Uzbek identified the suicide bomber, the sources added.

Four people, including an American diplomat, were killed and 17 others injured when a car bomb exploded near the highly fortified US consulate in Karachi on the morning of March 2.

AFP adds: Investigators have identified the suicide bomber as Mohammed Tahir, an official said, adding that Tahir used to work with Jaish-i-Muhammad and he was assigned the task by a person directly linked with Al Qaeda.

President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz congratulated police and intelligence agencies for the arrests.

“The president emphasised that credit for this excellent work goes to the combined efforts of law enforcement and intelligence agencies,” the interior ministry said in a statement.