KARACHI, Sept 9: Five persons accused of a second plot to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf in April have been arrested, police told Reuters on Monday.

A senior police official said the suspects belonged to the al-Aalmi offshoot of the Harkatul Mujahideen, which allegedly planned two assassination attempts in April.

Four members of the group were arrested in July and accused of plotting to assassinate Gen Musharraf in Karachi.

“The (recently) arrested people have hatched a plot to kill the President after the failure of an earlier attempt,” a senior police official said.

He said the second plot was also planned for April, when Musharraf was in the city to address a public rally in connection with his referendum campaign.

“The arrest was made on a tip-off and we have also seized weapons which were to be used in the planned attempt,” the official said, adding investigations were continuing. — Reuters