The militants belonged to the al-Almi faction of the Harkat-ul Mujahideen, a group that was also blamed for a suicide bomb attack outside the US consulate in Karachi the same year which killed 12 Pakistanis.

Police accused the three, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Hanif and Mohammad Ashraf, of parking a vehicle packed with explosives along a road in Karachi the President was to take, but the remote-control detonator failed. They were jailed for 10 years in October 2003 but appealed and the Sindh High Court ordered their retrial in December 2006.

“They were again found guilty and the court this time handed them life terms,” prosecutor Naimat Ali Randhawa told Reuters.

Three other suspects, Waseem Akhtar, Mohammad Jameel and Shakib Arsalan, were acquitted for lack of evidence, he said.