Pakistan acquits man in Musharraf assassination plot

KARACHI, July 12 (Reuters) A Pakistani court today acquitted an Islamist militant of charges of involvement in a failed assassination attempt on President Pervez Musharraf in Karachi four years ago, his lawyer said.

Defence lawyer Sami Ullah said the police had failed to provide evidence against Naveed-ul-Hasan, an activist of the shadowy Harkat-ul-Mujahideen al-Alami group.

''The court in its ruling said that the evidence against him was full of doubts,'' he added.

Hasan was accused by the police of parking a vehicle packed with explosives along a route Musharraf was to take in the port city of Karachi in 2002. But the remote-controlled detonator failed.

Musharraf has survived at least three assassination attempts by militant groups since joining a US-led war on terrorism following al Qaeda's September. 11 attacks on Washington and New York.

REUTERS SHB RN1611