Plot to assassinate Karzai thwarted

AFGHANISTAN’S intelligence agency said last night it had thwarted a plot to assassinate President Hamid Karzai after arresting a bodyguard and five people with links to the Haqqani network and al-Qaida.

The plotters, who included university students and a medical professor, had been trained to launch attacks in the capital, Kabul, and had recruited one of Karzai’s bodyguards to kill the president, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) said.

“A dangerous and educated group including teachers and students wanted to assassinate President Hamid Karzai,” spokesman Lutfullah Mashal told a news conference. “Unfortunately, they infiltrated the presidential protection system and recruited one of the president’s bodyguards.”