ISLAMABAD, 24 May 2006 — An anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi sentenced four people to death for their involvement in a 2004 suicide attack targeting Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz that killed nine people and the bomber, state media said yesterday.
The court headed by Judge Safdar Malik handed down death sentences to Muhammad Suleman, Qari Ahmad, Maulvi Muhammad Siddique and Noor Badshah.
Three others were given life sentences while one person was acquitted by the court, which announced the verdict amid tight security late Monday.
Aziz narrowly survived the attack at a by-election rally in Fateh Jang, near Islamabad, on July 30, 2004. He was finance minister at the time and took up the post of prime minister the following month.
The bomber walked up to Aziz’s car after the minister addressed the rally and blew himself up along with nine other people, including Aziz’s driver. Another 48 people were wounded.
They were also given nominal 10-year jail sentences for explosives offenses and fined 500,000 rupees ($8,333) each, it said.
Three brothers, Abdul Basit, Abdul Munim and Nisar Ahmad, were sentenced to life imprisonment. The eighth accused was cleared after he was given the “benefit of the doubt.”
The court also ordered the confiscation of properties of the accused, who were brought to the court from the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, the news agency said.
Pakistan has said the attack was planned by alleged former Al-Qaeda number three Abu Faraj Al-Libbi with the help of extremists from local extremist groups.
Al-Libbi, who was arrested in May 2005 in the northwestern town of Mardan, was also described as the mastermind behind two failed attempts on the life of President Pervez Musharraf in December 2003.
The attack on Aziz came less than 24 hours after Pakistan announced the arrest of Tanzanian Al-Qaeda operative Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, wanted for the twin bombings of US embassies in east Africa in 1998.
Haj Policy Revised
The government has revised the haj policy and fixed the number of pilgrims to 150,000, Federal Secretary for Religious Affairs Wakil Ahmad Khan told Arab News yesterday.
Khan said the government would spend $6 million for improving accommodation facilities for Pakistani pilgrims. He said the government would increase haj transportation charges in view of steep increase in oil prices. Khan said the policy would continue till 2009.
