(rpt, correcting garble in para five)

New Delhi, Feb 19 (UNI) Rana Shaukat Ali, a Pakistani national who lost his five children in the ghastly Samjhauta Express blasts, may turn out to be a major source for identifying the two youths, suspected to have planted the explosives on the Pakistan-bound train.

One of the two youths has already been arrested.

Ali and his wife were travelling in the train along with their five children, and all the children perished in the blaze, caused by the two IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices).

Ali and his wife are now recuperating in the Safdarjunhg Hospital here.

In a state of shock for having lost all his children, Ali recalled two youths boarding the train in his unreserved compartment. After the train had left Old Delhi station, he broke into a conversation with them. He recalled that they told him they wanted to go to Ahmedabad but had boarded the wrong train.

A ministry official quoted Ali as having said that he would be able to identify the suspects because he vividly remembered their faces.

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, who visited the hospital to inquire about the condition of the 13 injured passengers admitted there, said the two suspects, who were travelling without reservation on board the train, had been identified and one had been arrested.

''He is being interrogated,'' Mr Prasad added.

UNI