Pakistani court sentences two militants to death

KARACHI (Reuters) – A Pakistan anti-terrorism court
sentenced two members of an al Qaeda-linked Islamic group to
death on Monday for an attack on paramilitary troops two years
ago.

The two suspects — Atta-ur Rehman and Shazad Bajwa —
belong to the Jundullah group, a shadowy faction with ties to
foreign militants.

Police suspect the group was involved in a suicide attack
on the U.S. consulate in Karachi last week that killed four
people, including a U.S. diplomat, a day before a visit by U.S.
President George W. Bush.

The court convicted the two militants of carrying out an
attack on a paramilitary rangers’ vehicle in Karachi in March
2004, killing two people and wounding five.

“We have proved them guilty. The court has given them the
maximum punishment, which they deserved,” government prosecutor
Maullah Bux Bhatti told Reuters.

The defense said it would appeal.

Rehman and Bajwa were among 11 Jundullah members sentenced
to death by the same court last month after being found guilty
of killing 10 people in an attack on a convoy escorting a
military commander, Lieutenant-General Ahsan Saleem Hayat, in
June 2004.

Hayat, now a full general, escaped unharmed, but 10 people,
including six soldiers, were killed and 12 people were wounded.