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Court reserves order on competence to try Musharraf plot case
Karachi, Jun 02: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court will give its verdict tomorrow on a defence application challenging its jurisdiction to try five Islamic militants charged with attempting to kill President Pervez Musharraf.
Karachi, Jun 02: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court will give its verdict tomorrow on a defence application challenging its jurisdiction to try five Islamic militants charged with attempting to kill President Pervez Musharraf.
Judge Aale Maqbool Rizvi reserved the order until tomorrow after the prosecution and defence completed their arguments over the court's competence today, public prosecutor Habib Ahmed told a news agency.
Defence lawyer Abdul Waheed Katpar has argued that the case had been registered only because the suspects considered Musharraf anti-Muslim.
"It's Musharraf's personal vendetta against my clients, who considered him anti-Muslim. Secondly, this court has no jurisdiction as no act of terrorism had been committed," Katpar said.
Public prosecutor Ahmed disagreed.
"I told the court that the accused wanted to kill the President of Pakistan for his policies on Afghanistan and militants, and hatched a conspiracy, which itself is an act of terrorism," he said.
Police allege the accused parked a Suzuki pick-up truck on a busy commercial road to blow up Musharraf's car when he was visiting this port city to attend a rally on April 26 last year.
The same vehicle was later used in a suicide car-bomb attack outside the US consulate in Karachi on June 14 last year that killed 12 Pakistanis.
Bureau Report
Defence lawyer Abdul Waheed Katpar has argued that the case had been registered only because the suspects considered Musharraf anti-Muslim.
"It's Musharraf's personal vendetta against my clients, who considered him anti-Muslim. Secondly, this court has no jurisdiction as no act of terrorism had been committed," Katpar said.
Public prosecutor Ahmed disagreed.
"I told the court that the accused wanted to kill the President of Pakistan for his policies on Afghanistan and militants, and hatched a conspiracy, which itself is an act of terrorism," he said.
Police allege the accused parked a Suzuki pick-up truck on a busy commercial road to blow up Musharraf's car when he was visiting this port city to attend a rally on April 26 last year.
The same vehicle was later used in a suicide car-bomb attack outside the US consulate in Karachi on June 14 last year that killed 12 Pakistanis.
Bureau Report