Karzai was warned of assassination plot

PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai was warned of a weekend assassination plot against him, Afghanistan’s intelligence chief said yesterday, while admitting that failings by the security services allowed militants to launch the attack.

Meanwhile, a suicide attack killed 16 people, including 12 police, in an eastern province, a NATO spokesman said. Forty-one people were wounded.

Amrullah Saleh told parliament the plot to kill Karzai was hatched last month and the gunmen had rented the hotel room they opened fire from 45 days before the attack.