Man charged in plot to kill Afghan President Karzai had no access to palace

Man charged in plot to kill Afghan President Karzai had no access to palace

2011-10-09 08:59:55 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- Afghan government officials on Saturday said that a man charged with plotting to assassinate President Hamid Karzai was not a bodyguard and had no access to the presidential palace.

A spokesman for the country's top intelligence agency said on Wednesday that six people had been detained on charges of plotting the assassination of Karzai. Those arrested include four students, a Kabul University professor and a guard near the presidential palace.

But the presidential palace on Saturday denied the spokesman's claim that the sixth man was a presidential bodyguard, saying Mohibullah Ahmadi worked at one of the external gates and was not allowed to enter the palace.

National Directorate of Security spokesman Lotfullah Mashal on Wednesday said the suspects are members of al-Qaeda and the Haqqani Network. He also alleged they have direct ties to the intelligence services of neighboring countries and at least one of them received militant training in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region.

The official described the detainees as "a dangerous and educated group" who wanted to assassinate Karzai. It was not immediately clear how the group planned to kill Karzai and how advanced their plot was.

The arrests came less than three weeks after former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated during a suicide attack at his residence while meeting with several members of the High Peace Council along with two important members of the Taliban, although the group later denied responsibility.

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