KARACHI, April 29: Judge Arshad Noor Khan of Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC-III) Karachi on Thursday accepted the charge-sheet against nine activists of banned Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Alami , involved in a blast case at the Macedonian consulate, and referred the case to the ATC-V for trial.

Syed Sohail Akhtar alias Mustafa, Zafar Iqbal alias Sohail, Naeem Rafi alias Nimi, Mohammad Atif alias Kamran, Mohammad Khalid, Mahmoodullah, Abdul Razzaq alias Bhaiya, Samirullah alias Somi and Syed Ahmar Kazmi were arrested by police earlier this month for their alleged involvement in the Macedonian consulate blast and other explosive cases.

Police said the accused were arrested in raids conducted at Gulistan-i-Jauhar and Clifton areas in Karachi, and during interrogation they admitted their involvement in the said case as they intended to take a revenge from the Macedonian government over killing of eight Pakistanis who were killed along Macedonian border in 2002 on suspicion of being Al Qaeda members.

According to police, the accused killed three persons - Hameed Masih, Mohammad Asif and Ghazala Parveen - on December 5, 2002, at the consulate in DHA area. -PPI