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Militant calls off talks as Pakistan troops stay

Two arrests made in plot to kill Karzai

By Rahim Faiez
May 4, 2008

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Authorities have arrested two Afghan government employees for alleged involvement in last week's plot to kill President Hamid Karzai, top officials said today.

But the government maintained that al-Qaeda-linked militants based in neighboring Pakistan masterminded the April 27 attack on a military parade in Kabul. Karzai escaped unharmed but three others were killed.

"Al-Qaeda was involved in the attack. That is very clear from us," intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh told a news conference.

Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak identified one of the arrested government employees by a single name, Jawed, and said he had worked at a Defense Ministry factory repairing weapons. He allegedly provided two AK-47 assault rifles and a machine-gun to the three gunmen.

Wardak identified the second as a police nurse, Zalmay, who was allegedly in contact with one of the key plot leaders.

He declined to give further details about the rank of the two men, but disclosed that the two AK-47s used by the attackers were government-issued weapons. Authorities were still trying to determine where the machine-gun came from, he said.

Despite the two arrests made in Kabul after the attack, intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh again pointed to Afghanistan's neighbor, Pakistan, as the source of the plot.

Saleh said Afghanistan has provided information on the militants' whereabouts to "relevant international sources" who have the capacity to "put pressure on those people who are outside our borders."

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