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Police Arrest Three Brothers Suspected in Attack
 Police on Tuesday arrested three brothers for allegedly harboring suspected suicide bombers who later made an attempt on the life of Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. The suspects, alleged members of the Islamic militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, were identified as Abdul Moim, Abdul Basit and Nisar. Chaudhry Iftikhar, the chief of police in Rawalpindi, a city near the capital, said the three were nabbed in their home village in Attock, a district to the west, where the attack was launched July 30 as Aziz campaigned for a by-election, weeks before he took office. Aziz escaped unhurt but nine other bystanders were killed. Iftikhar said the two bombers, both Pakistanis, were sheltered at the brothers' house in Awanpura village before the attack. One of the bombers was killed in the attack, but the other's suicide belt malfunctioned and did not explode. It's unclear if the surviving bomber has been arrested. Earlier Tuesday, police announced the arrest last month of another suspected Islamic militant wanted for a failed assassination attempt against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, and for a deadly bombing near a U.S. Consulate in the southern city of Karachi in 2002. Islamic militants, including al-Qaida operatives, have targeted Musharraf and his top allies for backing the U.S.-led war against terrorism, which ousted the radical Taliban militia from power in neighboring Afghanistan in late 2001. Posted by: Steve 2005-01-18 |
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