Man arrested in connection with assassination attempt on Musharraf

Police have charged a member of Pervez Musharraf's security team with planning to assassinate the Pakistani President.

Inspector Wasim Akhtar, of the paramilitary Rangers, is to appear in court on charges of attempted murder.

It is in connection with an April 26 attempt to kill Mr Musharraf, Karachi police official Azad Khan said.

Akhtar had been assigned to provide security to the president who was in Karachi to campaign for a "yes" vote on his referendum to extend his presidential term.

According to the police charge sheet, Akhtar's job in the assassination plot was to notify his accomplices of President Musharraf's movements.

A small pickup truck packed with 500 pounds of explosives was parked about half a mile from the airport.

Akhtar allegedly telephoned his accomplices when Mr Musharraf's entourage left the departure terminal. They waited for the President's vehicle and as it passed the explosive-laden lorry they hit the remote detonator. But it failed.

They later retrieved the vehicle and used it nearly two months later on June 14 to kill at least 12 Pakistanis and injure 50 others in an explosion outside the US Consulate in Karachi.

The attempted assassination had been kept secret until police announced the arrest of three men in connection with the consulate bombing.