ISLAMABAD, 28 May 2004 — Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says junior army and air force personnel were involved in an assassination attempt against him in December. They have been arrested and will face a court martial soon, he said.

In an interview aired yesterday with Pakistan’s private Geo television network, Musharraf did not elaborate on the men’s role or say when they were caught.

“Well there are some people in uniform, junior level, people in uniform, air force and army, but they are very small,” Musharraf said. It was clear there was a connection with religious extremism, he said. “These are extremists, they are extremists involved in religious extremist activity or they had some affiliation with some religious organization, even (though) that is not allowed in the armed forces,” he said.

“Some of them are not even for any religious motivation. Some of them are for money,” he added.

He said he was “200 percent sure” that no senior-ranking officers were involved. “We know exactly who is involved. We know (the) entire picture of both the actions.”

Musharraf, who has angered hard-liners by supporting US President George W. Bush’s “war on terrorism”, was not hurt in a Dec. 14 attack when a powerful bomb exploded moments after his motorcade passed over a bridge near the capital.

Eleven days later, two suicide bombers tried to kill Musharraf again on the same road by ramming his motorcade with explosive-laden vehicles. The president was unhurt but 16 people, mostly policemen, were killed.

Musharraf said in March a Libyan belonging to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network was behind plots to kill him, but in yesterday’s interview he said only the mastermind of the attack, a Pakistani, remained to be caught. “The only person not there is this mastermind... who planned it. That man is still at large. We will get him,” the president said. “We know exactly who he is.”

Asked if the suspects were directly involved in the assassination attempts, Musharraf said: “For the bridge incident, yes.”

He said the explosives used in the attack were taken from the tribal areas to Multan and then brought to Islamabad. He said the government knew exactly how the two attacks were planned and executed.

He also indicated other arrests may follow.

— Additional input from agencies