KARACHI, Sept 24: A judge decided on Tuesday to restart the trial of the militants accused of June’s car-bombing outside the US consulate in Karachi because two more suspects have been arrested.

The trial, which has been postponed six times in the past month, will begin again on Oct 5.

“Police have arrested Sharib and (Mufti) Zubair Ahmed who were absconders in the US consulate attack case,” said public prosecutor Abdul Waheed Khan.

“Now the charges will be framed anew and the judge has granted the prosecution plea.”

Police have arrested 14 members of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Al-Almi extremist group, including Sharib and Mufti Zubair Ahmed, in a crackdown over the past week in the city.

Officials say Sharib is also suspected of masterminding a suicide bombing that killed 11 French naval engineers in May. Three Pakistanis, including the attacker, also died.

Sharib is also wanted over a plot to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf in April in Karachi.

Three Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Al-Almi members — Mohammed Imran Bhai, Hanif Ayub and Mohammed Ashraf — are already on trial over the US consulate attack.

They are charged with murder, attempted murder, terrorism and abetment over the June 14 suicide attack which killed 12 Pakistanis, including the bomber.

“Now the case has gone back to day one as charges will be framed again whereas all the witnesses will also record their statements again,” said defence lawyer Abdul Waheed Katpar.

Only one prosecution witness has testified so far in the trial which began on Aug 21.

Since Aug 28 the trial has been postponed twice because Judge Aale Maqbool Rizvi was dissatisfied with security arrangements, once at the request of the defence and three times at the request of the prosecution.

The hearing is being held inside Karachi’s Central Prison for security reasons.

Police have recovered maps and plans from arrested militants which indicate that places of worship and foreign establishments were to be targeted for future attacks, an investigator said on Tuesday.

The detainees belong to the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Al-Almi, a group which is accused of staging deadly bomb attacks against foreign targets in Karachi.

“These maps and plans are related to some places of worship and foreign establishments which they were planning to attack,” the investigator told AFP on condition of anonymity.

He said provincial authorities had been told about the plans and had recommended tighter security outside non-Muslim places of worship.

“A number of the terrorists are still at large who can plan similar plots.”

Senior investigator Manzoor Mughal confirmed some maps had been found. “But we have not deciphered them as yet and cannot say what purpose the accused had in mind while preparing these maps and papers.”

The documents were recovered from a man known as Sharib, a prime suspect in the suicide bombing outside the US consulate on June 14 in Karachi, and some of his arrested colleagues.

Police said they were continuing a hunt for the alleged financier of the group, Saud Memon.

“Our teams are raiding places wherever we receive a tip-off about Saud Memon’s possible presence. These raids continued overnight and we are still on the lookout for him,” Mr Mughal said.

Police are also looking for a man identified as Mustafa, who allegedly provided a volunteer to carry out the suicide bombing of the consulate. — AFP