General admits Army, Air Force hands were behind attacks

Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf has said that junior Army and Air Force personnel were involved in attempts to kill him last De...

Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf has said that junior Army and Air Force personnel were involved in attempts to kill him last December.

Speaking to private Pakistani television channel Geo in an interview broadcast on Thursday, Musharraf said several personnel had been arrested and would soon be tried in open court. Musharraf, who is also the Army chief, added all those involved were ‘‘very junior’’ and there had been no links found to any senior military figures.

‘‘There are some people in uniform, junior level, people in uniform, Air Force and Army,’’ he said.

Asked if he was concerned that some senior ranks might have been involved, Musharraf replied: ‘‘No, no, not at all. Hundred percent sure. Two hundred percent sure.’’

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According to Musharraf, the men were directly involved in the first of two attacks on him, on December 14, when an explosion blew up a bridge in the city of Rawalpindi near Islamabad, moments after his motorcade had passed over it.

The men, however, were not directly involved in the second attack, also in Rawalpindi on December 25, in which 15 died, the General said, but did not make clear whether they had participated in any way.

Diplomats have long suspected that the December attacks, both of which involved powerful explosions detonated close to Musharraf’s motorcade, could not have been carried out without the help of those with inside knowledge of the President’s movements.