Islamabad, Feb. 22 (PTI): Pakistan’s security agencies have released three top leaders of banned militant outfits after interrogating them in connection with the recent suicide bomb attacks on President Pervez Musharraf.

The three include Muhammad Ilyas Kashmiri, the head of the banned Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami, Abul Rauf, the younger brother of Jaish-e-Muhammad leader Maulana Masood Azhar and Haji Abdul Jabbar, leader of the Jamat ul Faquan, a local daily reported. There was, however, no official confirmation about their release.

The daily quoted leaders of the Muthahida Jihad Council (MJC), a conglomerate of militant groups as saying Kashmiri was released yesterday after a month-long detention for suspected links with the suicide attackers, who made a vain bid to assassinate Musharraf on December 25 at Rawalpindi by ramming their vehicles into his convoy. His release came after MJC leader Syed Salahuddin met Musharraf and other top officials, the Daily Times said.