February 24, 2007	Saturday	Safar 6, 1428

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RAWALPINDI, Feb 23: Hearing in the high-profile case of Shazia Mubasher, arrested in connection with the attempt on the life of President Gen Pervez Musharraf in December 2003, was adjourned until March 9 by an anti-terrorism court at the request of the defence lawyer here on Friday.

Shazia Mubasher, the only woman in the group of nine people arrested about three years ago, was brought to the court house in Rawalpindi amid tight security. Journalists and general public were kept at a distance from the place and only those directly linked to the trial were allowed in.

Shazia and others were arrested for allegedly conspiring and planning the Dec 25, 2003 double-suicide attack. Two extremists had rammed their vehicles into the president’s convoy, killing 15 people, mostly security personnel and passers-by. President Musharraf narrowly escaped the attack, although his bullet-proof limousine was damaged.

The other eight members of the group, including Shazia’s husband Rana Mohammed Naved and a non-commissioned army personnel Naik (corporal) Arshad Mahmood, were tried under the Army Act and convicted in mid-2005 by a field court martial general in Attock Fort.

However, a separate case was filed against Shazia Mubasher before an anti-terrorist court, whose hearing has been delayed for various reasons.

During the Friday’s brief hearing by the Special Anti-Terrorism judge, Tariq Abbassi, the accused was represented by Ghulam Akbar Awan.

He contended that the anti terrorism court should put off the case as they had filed a petition with the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi Bench, demanding the accused’s acquittal and their application was pending with the higher court.

The case has taken special significance after the issue was raised about Shazia Mubasher being tried the second time for the same crime. Her lawyers had taken the plea that she was tried along with others by the Field General Court Martial, and acquitted. However, it is not clear if her name had at all figured in the court martial. The other eight accused persons were convicted by the military court after an in-camera trial.