ISLAMABAD, July 8 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Pakistanian authorities announced Monday, July 8, the arrest of 3 suspects in the June 14 car bombing of the U.S. Consulate in Karachi and another attack more than a month earlier.

The Director General of the Pakistani Rangers, Major-General Salahuddin, said in a televised announcement, the three suspected militants had been arrested following raids on several houses in the Karachi area, CNN reported.

the Agence France-Press (AFP) reported that Pakistanian Officials described the arrests as a "great success", adding that several Kalashnikov rifles, pistols, ammunition, rocket launchers, explosives and handgrenades had been seized in the raids.

The men are being held under Pakistan's new anti-terrorism laws which allow police to detain them without charge for at least 30 days.

CNN said the three men are also being held in connection with a bomb attack outside the Karachi Sheraton in May 2002, which killed 14 people, including 11 French engineers. The bomber was among the dead.

The bombing of the U.S. Consulate killed 12 Pakistanis and seriously injured more than 20 others.

More than a week ago a previously unknown group calling itself "al Qanoon" claimed responsibility for the consulate bombing, saying it was launching a "holy war" against the United States.

Last week, the Pakistani Ministry of Interior said it had credible evidence tying Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terror network to both bombings, CNN reported.

In the weeks following the bombing, the leaders of several militant groups have been interrogated by Pakistani police and agents from the American Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).

Announcing the latest arrests Monday, Salahuddin said the suspects had also been linked to a failed assassination attempt on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf earlier this year, as well as to attacks on western targets such as the McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken fast food chains.

Meanwhile, two of the captured militants confessed their involvement in the deadly attacks on the U.S. consulate as well as on a bus of French naval engineers outside the Karachi Sheraton.

Two of the suspects, Mohammad Imran Bhai and Hanif Ayub, were present at a press conference late Monday. The third detained suspect, Mohammad Ahmed Danyal, was not present for legal reasons.