09 January 2005	Sunday	27 Ziqa'ad 1425

KARACHI, Jan 8: Dr Akmal Waheed and Dr Ajmal Waheed, accused in a case registered against them under the Anti-terrorism Act, denied the prosecution allegations that they harboured Abu Musaab, Gul Hasan and Hassam-us-Sani of Al Qaeda.

Recording their statements before Feroz Mehmood Bhatti, judge of ATC-II holding trial of the accused inside the Karachi Central Prison, both brothers pleaded innocence and said they were falsely implicated in the case.

When asked by the court that they were charged with supporting, assisting and providing facilities to activists of Al Qaeda and Jundullah, they termed the allegation false.

Responding to another question by the court that the prosecution evidence showed that they had sent two accused - Shehzad Bajwa and Mohammad Qasim - to Wana for training in the use of sophisticated weapons, including the light machine gun and Kalashnikov rifles, they denied the charge.

The court also asked questions about an incident in which two officials of the Pakistan Rangers were killed and several others injured, treatment of Shehzad Bajwa who also got injured in the incident, hiring of a car used in the incident of attack on convoy of Corps Commander, Karachi on May 26, 2004 and providing treatment to accused Muhammad Qasim at the residence of co-accused Ata-ur-Rahman. The accused denied the charges and said they were ignorant about the acts attributed to them.

The court later put off further hearing till Jan 12, when the defence side will submit a list of witnesses in defence.

The accused were booked by the Gulshan-i-Iqbal police under sections 201, 212, 216 of the PPC and sections 11 (N), 21 (C), (J) of the ATC act 1997, accusing them of harbouring and treating terrorists injured in different attacks, being members of the terrorist organization named Jundullah, and financially supporting terrorists.

The accused submitted a detailed written statement, which was placed on record of the case.-APP