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Men Arrested in U.S. Consulate Bombing
Monday, July 8, 2002
By Afzal Nadeem
Associated Press Writer

During Monday's raid, the commandos seized 10 rifles, two Russian-built machine-guns, eight rocket launchers, 63 hand grenades and about 66 pounds of explosives, Satti said.

KARACHI, Pakistan -- AP
Paramilitary commandos stormed houses in Pakistan's largest city Monday, arresting three men who were charged in last month's deadly bombing at the U.S. Consulate in Karachi.

The three are members of Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen al-Almi, said Maj. Gen. Salahuddin Satti of the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers.

The organization is a splinter group of Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen, or Movement of Holy Warriors, an al-Qaida-affiliated extremist group whose members fought in Afghanistan and Kashmir, said provincial police chief Syed Kamal Shah.

Dozens of people have been rounded up in connection with the June 14 bombing, which killed at least 12 Pakistanis and injured about 50. However, the three men arrested Monday were the first to be formally charged.

Satti presented the men to reporters, identifying them as Mohammad Hanif, Mohammad Imran and Sheikh Mohammad Ahmed.

Police said they believe the three were part of the same group responsible for the May 8 suicide bombing at the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi, in which 11 French engineers and three other people died. Officials say the men also were involved in a previously undisclosed plot to assassinate President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in April.
(More: The St. Paul Pioneer Press News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

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