Karachi: Three Islamic militants charged with plotting to kill Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and organising a suicide car-bomb attack outside the US Consulate will be tried in prison, an official said on August 16.

"The Home Department has issued notification that the trial will be held inside the prison," a senior official at Karachi central prison said.

"The accused persons in the consulate blast and attempt to kill President Musharraf will not be sent to the court."

Police had recommended that the three suspects, Mohammad Imran Bhai, Mohammad Hanif Ayub and Mohammad Ashraf, be tried in Karachi Central Prison, where they are being held, due to insecurity in this highly volatile Southern Pakistani city.

An anti-terrorism court will hear the trial, which is due to start on August 16.

The three men were captured last month and identified as members of the previously unheard of Harkatul Mujahideen al-Alaami, an offshoot of the banned Harkatul Mujahideen.

Police have said the militants confessed to plotting to blow up a vehicle on a main Karachi road as Musharraf was passing during a visit in April.

The detonator failed, and the same vehicle was allegedly later used in the blast outside the downtown consulate building on June 14. The explosion killed 12 Pakistanis.