A soldier and four civilians have been sentenced to death for involvement in a failed assassination attempt in 2003 on President Pervez Musharraf.

Three others were convicted with different jail terms and life imprisonment, military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said Friday.

The eight persons were accused in the second of two attacks targeting Musharraf's motorcade in Rawalpindi in December 2003, Sultan added.

Sultan did not say where the accused were tried but said they were tried and awarded punishment under the legal provisions.

Local TV channels reported that the accused were tried in an old fort in Attock, about 80 kilometers west of Islamabad.

Sultan said the accused were found guilty in the assassination attempt on President Musharraf on Dec. 25, 2003.

Musharraf narrowly escaped unhurt two assassination attempts in Rawalpindi on Dec. 14 and Dec. 25, 2003, respectively. The second attack, a suicide one, left 17 people dead, including two attackers and many policemen.

A former soldier, Islamuddin Siddiqui, 35, who was found guilty of conspiracy to assassinate President Musharraf was executed on Aug. 20.

Siddiqui was part of a group involved in the first attempt on Dec. 14, 2003, in which a road bridge was blown up by powerful explosives, but they missed Musharraf's car by seconds.

A number of Army and Air Force personnel were arrested in the aftermath, and it is not clear as to how many people were facing similar trials.

The authorities have said they are also holding a number of Islamic militants on suspicion of their links with those who masterminded and executed the attacks.

Source: Xinhua