Al-Qaida 'in plot to destabalise Afghan elections'

A deadly suicide bombing at a mosque and an attempt to shoot down a US military aircraft with a shoulder-launched missile may signal the start of a campaign of violence by al-Qaida and Taliban rebels to destabilise Afghanistan’s legislative elections, President Hamid Karzai’s spokesman said today.

Twenty people were killed in the June 1 blast in the southern city of Kandahar during the funeral of a moderate Muslim cleric who had spoken out against Taliban-led insurgents. Among the dead was the Kabul police chief and six of his bodyguards.