 A Pakistani military court has sentenced one soldier to death and another to 10 years' hard labour in jail for involvement in an assassination attempt on President Pervez Musharraf last year, a military spokesman told AFP Friday. The two soldiers were tried for the December 14 bid to assassinate Musharraf in the nearby city of Rawalpindi, Major General Shaukat Sultan said. "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.
Musharraf narrowly escaped the assassination attempt when a powerful explosion rocked a bridge just seconds after his motorcade had passed. Musharraf had been returning from Chaklala air base in his motorcade when the explosion went off and cracked the bridge. No one was injured in the blast. Five bombs had been planted on the bridge, security officials said. They said a hi-tech jamming device on his car delayed the explosions and possibly saved his life. Musharraf survived a second attack in the same area about two weeks later on Christmas Day last year when two suicide bombers rammed explosives-laden vehicles into the presidential motorcade, killing 15 people. Security officials say a Libyan Al Qaeda militant, Abu Faraj al-Libbi, is suspected of masterminding the two attempts. Pakistan has posted a reward of 20 million rupees (333,333 dollars) for the arrest of al-Libbi. The United States has also offered a five-million-dollar reward for his arrest. |