Pakistani national charged in plot to kill US leaders

HAMILTON, Canada (AA)- A Pakistani national has been charged with murder-for-hire in an alleged plot to assassinate current and former government officials, the US Justice Department announced Tuesday.

Asif Merchant, 46, arrived from Pakistan in April after spending time in Iran. He met an undercover FBI agent posing as a hitman and paid him $5,000 as an advance for the assassination plot, according to a statement.

Merchant was arrested in New York and is currently in federal custody.

“The Justice Department will spare no resources to disrupt and hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran’s lethal plotting against American citizens,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in the statement.

FBI Director Christopher Wray described the plot as “a threat to our national security” and vowed that it “will be met with the full might and resources of the FBI.”

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters there is an ongoing investigation and that “there has been no evidence to suggest that the individual named in today’s indictment has any connection to the assassination attempt against former President (Donald) Trump that happened in Butler, Pennsylvania.”

Merchant was arrested while trying to leave the country a day before Trump was shot on July 13.

– Pakistan in touch with US officials –

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said they have seen the media reports and are in touch with Washington.

“We are in touch with the US authorities and await further details. We have also noted the statements by US officials that this is an ongoing investigation,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said.

“Before giving our formal reaction, we also need to be sure of the antecedents of the individual in question.”