3 get lifer for plotting to kill Mush

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to three men convicted of planning an attack on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf outside this southern port city's international airport in 2002.

Three other accused in the case were set free by the court due to lack of evidence.

The three convicted men, who were directed by the court to pay a fine of Rs 10 lakh each, had confessed to the crime. Their confessions formed the basis of their conviction.

They were found guilty of plotting to kill Musharraf by setting off a car bomb as his convoy passed the city. However, the car did not explode as the remote control device used to detonate it did not work.

Public Prosecutor Naimat Randhawa said the three convicted men -- Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Haneef and Muhammad Ashraf -- were members of the militant group Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Almi.

One of the exonerated men was an inspector of the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers.

Police said the same car, which was supposed to be used in the attack on Musharraf, was later used for a suicide attack outside the US consulate in Karachi in June 2002 that killed 12 people.