Pakistan has arrested up to ten al-Qaeda suspects, including two Egyptians, suspected of planning major suicide attacks against the government and the US embassy earlier this month, ministers say.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the targets included the presidency, the military residence of President Pervez Musharraf, the US embassy, the office of the chief minister of Punjab province, and the national convention centre.
Pakistani Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat
The targets are all in the capital Islamabad, or its adjoining city Rawalpindi.
Mr Ahmed said up to six people had been arrested over a period of about a week before the planned attacks on August 13th, the eve of Pakistani Independence Day. He said the group were found with rockets, grenades, rifles and explosives.
Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said "eight to ten" people were being held and the two Egyptians, Qari Ismail and Sheikh Essa, were suspected of being "key elements" of the group.
He said the plots bore the hallmarks of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
"We have obtained valuable information from the foreigners ... we have unearthed a big and sinister plan," he said. "The most dangerous aspect was that their targets included army headquarters, parliament building, prime minister house and important people. This kind of terrorism can only be done by terrorists like al- Qaeda."
Mr Ahmed said three or four more suspects were being sought.
Mr Hayat said the men were found with "the latest gadgetry and equipment". "Our intelligence agencies have arrested a very dangerous group," he said.
He named one of the Pakistanis arrested as Farooq Usman and described former member of parliament Mr Javed Ibrahim Piracha as a "key element" in the conspiracy.
Mr Piracha is a pro-Taliban hardline Muslim who has taken part in legal moves to defend al-Qaeda suspects arrested in Pakistan in the past.
Suspected al Qaeda militants made two unsuccessful attempts to kill General Musharraf, a key ally of Washington's global "war on terror", in December. Last month, a suicide bomber killed himself and eight others in a attempt on the life of Finance Minster and Prime Minister designate Mr Shaukat Aziz.