Karachi, June 28: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court today postponed a hearing in the ongoing trial of five Islamic militants charged with plotting to kill President Pervez Musharraf, lawyers said. A judge adjourned the case until July 4 because the makeshift courtroom in the prison where the trial is being held was not available, defence lawyer Raza Abidi said.
All five accused -- Mohammad Imran Bhai, Hanif Ayub, Arsalan Sharib Farooqi, Mohammad Ashraf and Wasim Akhter -- pleaded not guilty when they were indicted last month. The accused are due to be questioned at the next hearing, public prosecutor Habib Ahmed said.
Bhai and Ayub were last month sentenced to death for a June 14, 2002 suicide car bomb attack outside the US consulate in Karachi, in which 12 Pakistanis were killed. Farooqi was sentenced to life imprisonment while Ashraf was acquitted in the case.
All five men are members of the Islamic extremist organisation Harkat-ul-Mujahideen al-Alami, an offshoot of Harkat-ul-Mujhaideen, which sends Muslim guerrillas to Kashmir.
Police allege the men parked an explosive-laden vehicle on a busy Karachi road where Musharraf's motorcade was expected to pass on April 26, 2002. Bureau Report