Karachi, Apr 01: Two Islamic militants were indicted today over a bomb attack last year that killed 11 French naval engineers and two Pakistanis. Asked to plead, Asif Zaheer and Bashir Ahmed shook their heads to deny the charges that they assisted a suicide bomber detonate a car bomb outside the Sheraton Hotel may 8, 2002, in Karachi, Pakistan's southern port city.
Judge Feroz Mahmood Bhatti read out the indictment in the fortified courtroom accusing the defendants of conspiracy, terrorism and the illegal use of explosives in the bombing, which also wounded 33 people. They could face the death penalty if found guilty.
Prosecutor Maula Bakhsh Bhatti said that investigators have a list of 56 witnesses, but not all will appear in court. “I will go for a few selected and important witnesses, beside bringing some circumstantial evidence and the statements of confession of the two suspects,'' the prosecutor said.

Five more suspects wanted in the case have eluded capture. Zaheer and Ahmed were arrested last December and January respectively.
The defendants stood behind a 12-foot-high (three meter) fence of iron bars, appearing calm and composed. The trial was being held by a special anti-terrorism court inside a heavily guarded prison in Karachi.
The indictment alleged Zaheer and Ahmed belonged to Harkat-ul-Ansar, a militant group now called Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen. Pakistan authorities believe it is linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
In the attack, the suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into a bus carrying the French engineers, who were in Pakistan helping the navy build a submarine. The bomber and two Pakistani passers-by also died.
Bureau Report