The blast happened at the entrance to a shopping centre

Ankara's governor, Kemal Onal, named the culprit as Guven Akkus, a 28-year-old man from central Turkey.

Mr Onal said the method and type of explosives used suggested the man was from a Kurdish separatist group.

If so, the attack would be the worst of its kind in Turkey in recent years, and the first major one in the capital.

According to forensic experts the bomber had strapped plastic explosives to his body.

Thinly veiled reference

The governor described the bomber as a known member of an illegal organisation, often code in Turkey for the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the PKK

The blast come just days after a unilateral ceasefire called by the PKK had expired, and at a time when the Turkish military has intensified its operations against the PKK - in the south-east of the country.

The blast occurred during evening rush hour at the entrance to a shopping centre in the district of Ulus.

The bomb was detonated just over an hour before senior Turkish generals and foreign defence officials were due to pass by, on their way to an evening reception.

A Pakistan national was among the dead.

Turkey has been hit by bombings in recent years. Some have been blamed on Kurds and others on Islamic militants.

In November 2003, more than 60 people were killed by a series of suicide bombings in Istanbul which the authorities linked to al-Qaeda.

Kurdish rebels carried out a spate of attacks on tourist sites in Turkey last year, killing more than a dozen people.