Consulate bombers convicted in Pakistan

Two men were today sentenced to death in Pakistan for plotting a deadly car bombing outside the US consulate in Karachi in June 2002.

Two accomplices were also sentenced to life in prison by a special anti-terrorism court in the restive southern port city. One man was acquitted.

The four convicted men are all said to be members of the Harkat-ul Mujahedeen al-Almi Islamic extremist group. They were found guilty of murder, conspiracy, terrorism and other charges.

The June 14 car bombing outside the consulate killed 12 Pakistanis and wounded 50 others.

The 4X4 vehicle used in the attack failed to get past the mission’s high walls, and its victims were all passers-by and security officials who were just outside the US facility.

The court sentenced Mohammed Imran and Mohammed Hanif to death by hanging.

Mohammed Sharib and Mufti Zubair were both jailed for life, while a fifth defendant, Mohammed Ashraf, was acquitted. The four convicted were also fined about €9,000 each.

The men were defiant after the verdict, with Imran and Hanif making the victory sign with their hands and even passing out sweets to their lawyers.

“I am satisfied,” said Imran. “This death sentence is a blessing for me, although our deaths have been planned by the government to please America.”

Hanif said: “All infidels of the world are united under the banner of America to eliminate Muslims.”

Security was tight at the trial, which was held inside the maximum security jail where the defendants were being held.

Hundreds of heavily armed police checked cars outside the prison, and frisked people as they entered. Sharpshooters stood guard on top of nearby buildings and authorities placed two mounted machine guns outside the prison gates.

Lawyers for the convicted men say they will appeal.

The bombing was one in a string of attacks on Westerners since President Pervez Musharraf announced his support for the US-led war against terrorism in Afghanistan, angering many radical Islamic groups in Pakistan.

Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, escaped two assassination plots in 2002, both supposedly planned by Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen al-Almi. The group is an offshoot of an Islamic militant group opposed to India’s rule in the disputed Kashmir region.

The consulate bombing came a month after another car bombing outside the nearby Sheraton Hotel in Karachi that killed 11 French naval engineers.