Pakistan's Musharraf Survives New Assassination Attempt
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who is on trial for treason, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt as a bomb went off along a route on which his convoy was due to pass early on Thursday, police said.
The bomb was planted along a road Musharraf was due to take from a Rawalpindi army hospital, where he has been staying since January, to his home on the outskirts of Islamabad and went off at around 2am (9pm GMT Wednesday).
Nobody was injured and there have so far been no claims of responsibility, AFP reported.
"Four kilograms of explosive device planted in a pipeline under a bridge exploded around 20 minutes before the former president was supposed to cross the spot," senior police official Liaqat Niazi said.
Niazi said the former president was then taken home via an alternative route. Musharraf had been staying at the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) in the garrison city of Rawalpindi since taking ill with a heart condition in January.
The blast occurred at the Faizabad interchange, which lies at the boundary of the two cities.
Muhammad Naeem, a spokesman for the Islamabad police, said a bomb disposal squad had cordoned off the area after the blast and searched for additional explosives.
"Nobody was injured in the blast," he said, adding Musharraf was the intended target.
Musharraf, who led Pakistan after seizing power in a 1999 coup until 2008, returned from self-imposed exile in March last year to run in general elections, but was barred from taking part and has faced a series of legal cases including treason.
The Taliban has also vowed to send a squad of suicide bombers to kill him, and security threats have prevented him from appearing at all but two of his treason hearings.
It was the fourth attempt on the ex-general's life, with the first three occurring while he was in office.
A special court indicted Musharraf for treason on Monday in what was seen as a milestone for civilian authority in a country long dominated by the army.
