Life terms in plot against Musharraf

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Six men tied to Pakistani militant groups were given life terms for their roles in a plot to kill former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a court said.

An anti-terror court in Rawalpindi sentenced six men to life in prison for their role in a 2008 plot to kill Musharraf using cars laden with explosives. The six men were accused of having links to the Pakistani Taliban, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jaish-e-Mohammed, the Press Trust of India reports.

More than a dozen men were accused of plotting to drive cars rigged with explosives into the former president's motorcade or his residence.

Malik Muhammad Akram Awan, the judge at the Rawalpindi court, dismissed the case of seven others tied to the plot because of a lack of evidence.

Investigators said they uncovered more than 2,000 pounds of explosives in three vehicles connected to the plot.

Seth Jones, a co-author of a report on Pakistani militants for the think tank Rand, said groups like JAM, LeJ and the Pakistani Taliban pose a significant threat to the United States and its allies.

Jones in a June report said groups like JAM "remain entrenched in Pakistan and pose a grave threat to the state and the region."