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ISLAMABAD: Shots were fired into the flightpath of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's plane near a military airbase on Friday, but the incident occurred minutes after the aircraft passed, officials said.
Pakistani forces sealed off a house in the area in Rawalpindi, a garrison city adjoining the capital Islamabad, immediately afterwards, security officials told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Pakistani military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad denied the shots had targeted the plane. "It was not related to the president," he told AFP.
The shots were fired from the flat roof of a house, officials said.
"The shots were fired from a house that was rented by a couple some days ago. They have arrested one suspect and taken into possession a machinegun which was used as an anti-aircraft weapon," one security official said.
The 14.5 mm calibre weapon was found on a crudely-made wooden tripod on the roof. It had been specially modified to increase its range, the official added.
"The man and woman who rented the house fled by the time security forces got to the scene. The suspect (a third person) was arrested near the scene," he said.
"He (Musharraf) was not in the picture when the shots were fired," another official said. The plane had taken off from Chaklala Military Airbase in Rawalpindi "several minutes before" the firing.
General Arshad also denied television reports that a rocket was fired at the plane.
Musharraf flew from the military base to the southern provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan to visit people affected by recent floods, the military said in a separate statement.
Security officials said it was "possible that the incident was against the backdrop of the episode of Lal Masjid", referring to the ongoing siege of a radical mosque in Islamabad.
- AFP/so
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