GILGIT, Jan 8: ISLAMABAD: Security agencies have arrested a member of an outlawed militant group suspected of involvement in a December 2003 attempt to kill President Pervez Musharraf, an intelligence official said on Tuesday. Mufti Eid Muhammad, a member of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militant group, was arrested in Lahore about three weeks ago, said the official, who asked not to be named. He said Eid Muhammad was a bomb expert believed to have helped plant explosives under a bridge in Rawalpindi which were detonated on Dec 14, 2003, seconds after Musharraf�s motorcade passed over it.
MUFTI Eid Muhammad and his two aides who were said to be arrested in Lahore a few days back were actually apprehended by the Rawalpindi police some time back from a Madrassa following a tip-off that they were planning suicide attacks in Muharram, well-placed sources said. Eid Muhammad and his accomplices Muhammad Arshad and Khawaja Ibrahim, activists of the defunct Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, were picked by the police following information from intelligence agencies. Eid is a resident of Rawalpindi while Ibrahim and Arshad belonged to Bahawalpur. "However, they did not carry any money on their heads," the sources added. During interrogation the accused had confessed to planning suicide attacks on religious gatherings in Muharram. However, the agencies could not get any solid clue to their involvement in the attack on General Musharraf�s motorcade.