A WOULD-BE suicide bomber with more than a half-ton of explosives packed into his car was just 300 meters from the U.S. Embassy Monday when he was stopped by a chance traffic accident, a top Afghan intelligence official reported yesterday.

　　Foreign intelligence information indicated the alleged terrorist, who was captured by Afghan authorities after a car chase through Kabul, is a foreigner and a member of the al-Qaida terror group, said Amonullah Barakzai, deputy director of the Afghan intelligence service.

　　"He was on a suicide mission," Barakzai said. But he said Afghan authorities were not sure whether his target was the embassy, other foreign installations or the Afghan leadership, including President Hamid Karzai, whose palace offices are about a half-mile from the accident scene.

　　An Interior Ministry spokesman said late Monday a second unidentified man also had been arrested in the case. But Barakzai reported only the single arrest, and said investigators had not determined the man's identity or nationality.

　　A government television report Monday night on the arrest was accompanied by video of the man's Toyota Corolla, whose door panels were exposed to show yellow blocks of what the intelligence service statement said was explosives.

　　Barakzai said the Corolla collided with a Toyota Land Cruiser late Monday morning along Microyan Road by the government printing center, around the corner from the sprawling, heavily guarded U.S. Embassy. A tall steel outer wall was erected at the embassy four months ago.

　　"He didn't stop and drove off at high speed from the accident," Barakzai said. "A mobile patrol from the Kabul security office was nearby and drove after him."