Pakistan's interior minister said Wednesday a recently captured al-Qaida figure wanted for two bombings against the nation's president was also involved in a plot to kill its prime minister. Abu Faraj al-Libbi, reputed to be al-Qaida's No. 3, was captured by Pakistani intelligence agents on May 2 after a shootout in a town in northwestern Pakistan. Pakistan's government has previously accused al-Libbi of masterminding two December 2003 assassination attempts against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. He escaped unharmed, but 17 other people were killed. But Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao on Wednesday claimed for the first time that the Libyan terror suspect also orchestrated a suicide attack against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz last year, weeks before he took office. "Yes, he (al-Libbi) was behind the attack on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz," Sherpao told The Associated Press. He gave no details about the evidence against al-Libbi. Aziz was unhurt in the July 30 attack in Fateh Jang, a town near Islamabad. A suicide bomber blew himself up near Aziz's car, killing nine people, including Aziz's driver. Since then authorities have arrested several militants on suspicion of involvement.
