Karzai assassination plot foiled

KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Afghan security officials say they foiled a plot to assassinate President Hamid Karzai and arrested six suspects including a guard at the presidential palace.

A spokesman for the National Directorate of Security said the suspects had ties to al-Qaida and the Pakistan-based Hagan militant group.

Afghan officials did not give any details of the plot or say when the suspects had been arrested, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

A university microbiology professor and four students were arrested along with the palace guard.

In videotaped confessions released by officials, the suspects talk of trips to Pakistan to learn how to fire guns and make bombs but make no direct reference to Karzai.

Potful Marshal, a spokesman for the security directorate, said the plotters had managed to get within reach of the presidential palace.