Three sentenced to death for aiding Indian Parliament attack

NEW DELHI, India -- Three men were sentenced to death Wednesday for their role in a deadly attack on Parliament that brought India to the brink of war with Pakistan.

Judge S.N. Dhingra sentenced the three under a new law that describes any aid to terrorists as terrorism, a capital offense.

The wife of one of the men was sentenced to five years in prison for failing to alert police about the plot.

The three men were convicted Monday of helping to plan the Dec. 13, 2001, assault, in which five suspected Islamic militants shot nine people to death before they were themselves were killed by security forces.

Can be appealed

The convictions and sentences can be appealed, and all death sentences must be reviewed and confirmed by a higher court.

Dhingra said the men --Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani, Mohammed Afzal and Shaukat Hussain Guru -- were part of a plan to kill Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani, who is also deputy prime minister.

They also wanted to hold legislators hostage in the red-sandstone Parliament building, the judge said.

India accused Pakistan's intelligence agency and Pakistani Islamic guerrillas of orchestrating the assault and sent hundreds of thousands of troops to its border with Pakistan in a standoff that lasted nearly 10 months. Islamabad has denied any involvement.