Pak intelligence agencies uncover plot to assassinate Zardari

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Pakistani intelligence agencies have uncovered a plot to assassinate President Asif Ali Zardari and arrested several persons, TV news channel reported.

The agencies conducted raids over the past few weeks in Islamabad and Punjab and arrested up to 42 persons, the reports said.

GEO News channel quoted its sources as saying that 42 people had been arrested while Express News Channel reported that eight have been arrested.

The reports said the plotters had planned to target Zardari while he visited the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, where his father Hakim Ali Zardari was being treated till his recent death.

There were also reports that the plotters had planned to target Zardari at Nawab Shah in Sindh province.

There was no official word on the alleged assassination plot.

Security officials have said in the past that the President faces serious threat to his life from the Taliban and other militant groups.

Zardari rarely makes public appearances due to security concerns.