ISLAMABAD, 25 December 2004 — A Pakistani military court convicted two soldiers, sentencing one to death and the other to 10 years’ hard labor in jail for involvement in an assassination attempt on President Pervez Musharraf last year, a military spokesman said yesterday.
The two were accused in the first of two bombings targeting Musharraf’s motorcade in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near the capital, Islamabad, in December 2003, spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan told The Associated Press.
Shaukat said both were low-ranking army personnel. He did not release their names, nor give details of their involvement in the Dec. 14 attack, when a huge bomb ripped through a bridge seconds after Musharraf’s motorcade had passed. No one was hurt.
“The court found them guilty of the charges,” he said, adding that the verdict was announced “a few days ago.”
“One was sentenced to death and the other has been given 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment,” the spokesman said. He gave no further details.
A Libyan Al-Qaeda operative is suspected to have plotted the two attacks against Musharraf, a key ally in the US-led war on terrorism. In the second bombing, on Dec. 25, two suicide bombers tried to ram explosive-laden vehicles into Musharraf’s limousine. The army chief was unhurt, but 17 people, mostly policemen, were killed.
A number of army and air force personnel were arrested in the aftermath, and Shaukat said other soldiers were facing similar trials for the Dec. 14 attack.
However, a senior air force official refused to comment whether any of their personnel were facing trials. “We don’t want to comment on this sensitive matter,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
An intelligence official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said nine or 10 junior military personnel had been arrested, and cases against them were expected to be decided soon. He also refused to divulge their alleged role in the bombing.
Authorities have said they are also holding a number of militants on suspicion of their links with those who masterminded and executed the attacks.
But they have yet to capture Abu Faraj Al-Libbi, the Libyan Al-Qaeda operative, whom Musharraf says masterminded the attacks. He is one of the most wanted men in Pakistan, and authorities have offered a 20 million rupee ($345,000) reward for information leading to his arrest.
A key associate of Al-Libbi accused of helping him plot the bombings, Amjad Hussain Farooqi, was killed on Sept. 26 in a shootout with security forces in southern Pakistan.
