ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- An Islamic militant arrested in two assassination attempts against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf escaped from jail two months ago, officials revealed Tuesday. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told the Associated Press that authorities were still searching for the man accused in the December 2003 attacks. A security official, who wouldn't given his name, identified the escapee as Mushtaq Ahmad, and said he escaped in November -- several months after he was arrested along with other militants in connection with the two failed attacks. Ahmed declined to give the suspect's name or provide details on when and where he escaped. The belated announcement of the escape -- two months after the fact -- indicated embarrassment on the part of the government. Musharraf was unhurt in the attacks, which occurred 11 days apart in December 2003. The first, on Dec. 14, destroyed a concrete bridge moments after the president's motorcade passed. No one was hurt. In the second, on Dec. 25, two suicide bombers tried to ram Musharraf's limousine with explosive-laden pickup trucks. The president was unharmed, but as many as 17 people were killed. Last week, Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan told the AP that a military court had convicted two soldiers, sentencing one to death and the other to 10 years in prison, for involvement in the first attempt. The authorities are also holding army and air force men on suspicion of assisting al-Qaida linked Islamic militants to carry out the first attack. Pakistan has said Abu Faraj al-Libbi, a Libyan al-Qaida operative, was behind both the attacks against Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism. Authorities have so far failed to capture al-Libbi despite a massive manhunt.

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