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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan bomb suspects charged |
| 2003-01-25 |
| Two men have formally been charged with murder, terrorism, and conspiracy in connection with the suicide attack which killed 11 French engineers and two Pakistani bystanders in Karachi. Asif Zaheer and Bashir Ahmed will go on trial on 1 February. Others are suspected of masterminding the attack, but Mr Zaheer and Mr Ahmed are so far the only people detained. They're the cannon fodder. The boyz in charge will let them take the fall — what the hell? They're cheap and easily replaced... Zaheer, 28, was arrested in December on suspicion of involvement in a separate plot to ram an explosives-laden car into a US diplomatic vehicle in Karachi. Police say he has confessed to planting explosives in the Sheraton car bomb attack. Zaheer reportedly told police he received training at a camp of the extremist group, Harkatul Jihad-e-Islami, in Afghanistan. He reportedly said he was determined to punish Americans for their military actions in Afghanistan. An investigator said that during interrogation Mr Zaheer admitted he had mistaken the Frenchmen for Americans and regretted killing "friends of Pakistan''. "Oops. My bad..." Mr Ahmed is believed to be a member of the al-Qaeda affiliate, Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen al-Almi, the Associated Press reports. Members of the group fought alongside the Taleban during US-led airstrikes in Afghanistan. Didn't most everybody in Pakland? But they're our good friends... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |