Seven terrorists with heavy arms
arrested: Government tries to hide facts
Another attempt on Musharraf’s
life foiled?
Special SAT Report
ISLAMABAD/KARACHI:
Authorities foiled another attempt on the life of Pakistan's military
ruler General Pervez Musharraf in Karachi two days back when he
traveled to the city to inaugurate an exhibition, but the official
media managers were trying to cover it up with full pressure on
the local media.
The
news of the attempt was broken by GEO Television, a subsidiary
of the large Jang/News Group of Newspapers and their ace reporter,
Kamran Khan, who also writes for the Washington Post, broke the
story.
Later
a similar version was circulated by the semi-official news agency,
Network News International (NNI), which is practically controlled
by Mr Anwar Mahmud, the Information Secretary of the Musharraf
Government.
As
soon as GEO TV gave the attack news, disrupting its normal transmission,
saying an attempt had been made on General Musharraf and some
people had been arrested, the army's PR wing, ISPR, came into
action and pressure was used on GEO administration to stop the
report from being aired in subsequent bulletins.
Orders
were issued by Mir Shakil ur Rehman, the CEO of the Jang Group
to kill the attempt story by Kamran Khan under Government pressure
and only the official version was telecast, claiming that the
arrest of the seven terrorist was "part of the continuing
operation against terrorists."
Following is the NNI Story:
Another attempt on Musharraf’s
life foiled
Seven terrorists with heavy arms
arrested; master mind attacking French technicians behind attempt
KARACHI:
The law enforcing agencies have foiled another attempt on life
of President General Pervez Musharraf and apprehended seven terrorists
along with heavy arms.
“The arrested terrorists were also believed involved in
bombing the Bus in which 11 French were killed in may this year,”
an official source revealed to NNI here Wednesday.
These terrorists planning to attack President Musharraf when his
squared was supposed to cross Doohra Jee area in Karachi, southern
Port City of Pakistan, the source revealed.
“For the latest attack that was planned to be executed on
Tuesday, was foiled by the Pakistani intelligence agencies. A
75-MM anti-Tank Rocket Riffle was fixed on a Suzuki pick-up that
was also taken into custody,” the source said.
The other arms recovered from the terrorists of a banned outfit
include 40 RPG hand-bombs, 40 Rockets, 9 MM K 6 Rockets, 24 Klashinkov
riffles, several rounds of bullets, rocket shells and fuses.
Those arrested are Abdul Moeen, Mohammad Ismael, Mohammad Taj,
Mohammad Shamim, Maqsood Ahmed and Asad Ullah alias Shehzad.
“The Potassium Hydrogen Oxide and other explosive material
was also recovered from the terrorists,” the official source
said.
Sharab alias Shadab master minded the plan to attack President
Musharraf and has been booked by the police early this month in
a bus bombing of the French nationals.
“We cannot say with full conviction about a foreign hand
behind the latest moves of terrorist in Pakistan. But we are gathering
sound evidence in this connection and would share with the media
on success,” the official said.
However it is largely believed that Sharab was having close linkage
with the Indian intelligence agency RAW.
In over a month as many as five attempts on the life of President
Musharraf have been unfolded by the Pakistani intelligence agencies.
Earlier an inspector of Pakistan Rangers and an official of Pakistan
Navy were booked for conspiring to a plant a bomb to assassinate
President Musharraf. —NNI
Reuters Report on the Attack
ISLAMABAD
(Reuters) - Pakistan said on Wednesday it had arrested seven "most
wanted terrorists" including a suspect who masterminded a
suicide bombing which killed 11 French naval engineers in the
port city of Karachi earlier this year.
The
French nationals and three Pakistanis were killed in the car bomb
attack outside a luxury hotel in the southern sprawling city in
May.
"All
the arrested terrorists are Pakistanis and are presently being
interrogated to ascertain which terrorist organizations they belong
to," an official statement said.
Islamic
militants, incensed by President Pervez Musharraf's support for
the U.S.-led war on terror, are suspected to be behind a series
of attacks on Western and Christian targets in the country in
recent months.
The
Frenchmen had been working on a project for Pakistan's navy when
they were caught in the explosion on May 8. Twelve other Frenchmen
were also hurt.
In
June, 12 Pakistanis were killed and another 20 wounded in a car
bomb attack on the U.S. consulate in Karachi. The mission has
since been moved and reopened at an undisclosed location.
France
closed its consulate in Karachi in July and Italy closed the visa
section of its mission the following month after a series of attacks
on foreigners in Pakistan. - Reuters
AP Report:
Pakistan Arrests Car Bomb Suspect
The
Associated Press
Wednesday, September 18, 2002; 1:41 PM
KARACHI,
Pakistan –– The Pakistan government announced the
arrest Wednesday of a man it suspects of masterminding the May
8 car bombing that killed 11 French engineers and three others.
Also
Wednesday, security forces arrested two Islamic militants suspected
of planning to assassinate President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, said
a senior police official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Those
two men are believed to be members of the militant organization
Harkat-ul-Mujahedeed al-Almi and were arrested near a Karachi
convention center where Musharraf visited on Tuesday, the official
told The Associated Press.
The
suspect in the car bombing was among seven Pakistanis arrested
in raids early Wednesday in this sprawling port city.
"One
of the apprehended terrorists is suspected to have masterminded
the attack on a bus near the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi" in
which the French engineers died, a government statement said.
The car bomber was among the other dead.
No
further information was released about the alleged mastermind.
It
was unclear whether the two men arrested on suspicion of planning
to assassinate Musharraf were part of the group arrested with
the alleged car bombing mastermind.
The
announcement followed the arrest last week in Karachi of about
a dozen foreigners, most believed to be Yemenis. They included
a key organizer of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States,
Ramzi Binalshibh.
He
and four others were handed over to U.S. custody Monday and flown
out of the country.
The
May car bombing was the bloodiest attack of terrorism directed
at foreigners in Pakistan this year. Suspicion fell on Islamic
extremists angry at Musharraf and his Western backers because
of Pakistan's support for the U.S.-led coalition in the war against
terrorism in Afghanistan.
The
French victims were engineers at France's state-owned naval construction
service who were building a second Agosta submarine Pakistan purchased
from France.
The
attack was a severe blow to foreign confidence in the Pakistani
government and sent the Karachi stock market plummeting.
The
New Zealand and Pakistani cricket teams canceled a five-day match
to have opened in Karachi. The teams were staying in a hotel across
the street from the Sheraton.
©
2002 The Associated Press
