PAKISTAN. 4 MILITANTS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR BID TO KILL PM

an anti-terrorism court in Pakistani sentenced four Islamist militants to death for an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. Announcing the decision in Rawalpindi, the court also jailed three militant brothers for life while the eighth accused was acquitted. Aziz narrowly escaped assassination when a suicide bomber blew himself up next to his car in central Punjab province in July 2004.
Aziz was finance minister at the time and was campaigning for a by-election to win a seat in parliament to enable him to become prime minister.
An Islamist militant group with purported links to al Qaeda later claimed responsibility for the attack in which Aziz's driver and eight other people were killed.
The court announced the decision amid tight security in the presence of all eight men.