Attacker and girlfriend "planned" attempted hit on Argentine VP

BUENOS AIRES - The man accused of trying to shoot Argentine Vice President Cristina Kirchner last week planned the attack with his girlfriend, according to preliminary charges filed by a judge, local media reported Wednesday.

The alleged shooter in the attack at point blank range, Fernando Sabag Montiel, and his girlfriend, Brenda Uliarte, both in custody, are accused of trying to assassinate Kirchner "with planning and prior agreement," Judge Maria Eugenia Capuchetti said in an indictment of the two, according to the Telam news agency.

Scandal-tainted Kirchner, 69, survived the assassination attempt as she mingled with supporters outside her home last Thursday night, when a gun brandished by Sabag Montiel failed to fire. The 35-year-old was taken into custody on the spot.

Video footage showed his 23-year-old partner in the company of Sabag Montiel on the day of the attack, local media have said, citing sources close to the investigation.

Kirchner enjoys a loyal support base among followers of the center-left Peronist movement inherited from former president Juan Peron. But she is disliked in equal measure by the political opposition.

Tens of thousands of Argentines took to the streets after the shooting attempt.

Uliarte was arrested under a warrant issued by the magistrate in charge of the investigation, according to judicial sources cited by local media, including the official Telam news agency.

She had said in an interview with local television channel Telefe that she had been living with Sabag Montiel for more than a month but had not seen him in the 48 hours before the incident. - AFP