Pakistan Cleric Killed; Thousands Rampage

[lucky wilbury]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/st...053004422.html


Pakistan Cleric Killed; Thousands Rampage
By ZARAR KHAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) -

Thousands of Sunni Muslims rampaged through this volatile southern Pakistani city Sunday, ransacking property and stoning vehicles after unidentified gunmen assassinated an influential pro-Taliban cleric.

Enraged by the drive-by shooting of Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, rioters set fire to banks, shops, a police station and a KFC fast food restaurant, and traded gunfire with security forces, leaving more than a dozen people injured.

Tens of thousand of mourners later gathered for the evening funeral, where police fired warning shots above the crowd.

Shamzai, in his 70s, had met Osama bin Laden and was a strong supporter of Afghanistan's former Taliban regime. The soft-spoken cleric was shot dead as he traveled in a pickup truck to his Sunni Muslim religious school in the east of the city.

Witnesses told police that as many as six gunmen riding in two cars and on a motorcycle opened fire on Shamzai's vehicle, wounding one of his sons, a nephew, his driver and a police bodyguard.

No one claimed responsibility for the shooting, which Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali condemned as a "dastardly act of terrorism."

In the riots, Sunni Muslim students, some shouting slogans against rival Shiite Muslims, took to the streets. Paramilitary forces were deployed to protect Shiite mosques, amid fears of sectarian violence.

The attack came three weeks after a suicide bomber killed 22 worshippers at a Shiite mosque in Karachi, and days after two car bombings near the U.S. Consul's residence that killed one person and injured 40.

Since late 2001, when Pakistan threw its support behind the U.S.-led war on terror, Karachi has been wracked by terrorist attacks, some targeting foreigners, others apparently motivated by sectarian differences.

Nearly 80 percent of people in this Islamic country are Sunnis and live peacefully with minority Shiites, but radical groups on both sides often launch deadly attacks against members of the other sect.

After Shamzai's shooting, Sunnis - mostly students wearing beards, traditional white caps and tunics - set fires and pelted passing vehicles with stones. Hundreds raided a police station near Shamzai's school, Jamia Islamia Binor Town, beating up three policemen and setting fire to vehicles.

Police said rioters set fire to four banks and Quaid-e-Azam Academy, an institute that conducts research on Pakistan's founding father Mohammed Ali Jinnah. They ransacked shops, a KFC restaurant, a cinema and a gas station, and snatched two ambulances.

In the worst clashes, about 2,000 rioters attacked a building housing a bank and a newspaper. Police in armored cars fired guns in the air and tear gas, and from within the crowd, automatic gunfire crackled back.

Shaukat Imran, a police official, three police and four protesters were wounded in the firing, none seriously. At least six other police were hurt in stone-throwing.

Afad Malik, the Karachi police chief, said 30 people were arrested for creating a disturbance.

By evening, some 15,000 police and rangers were deployed as tens of thousands of mourners gathered near the seminary for the six-mile-long funeral procession. Security forces sparked more anger when they fired warning shots over the mourners' heads to disperse the crowd after some started throwing stones. The procession then took an alternative route.

"This pro-American government is afraid of a sea of people, so the police fired shots and threw tear gas at the mourners. This is condemnable," said Abuzar Muavia, 25, a seminary student.

More than 10,000 people study at branches of Shamzai's seminary in Karachi. The cleric was a fervent critic of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's support of the U.S.-led war on terrorism, and strongly opposed the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He rose to prominence after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks when he led a delegation of clerics from Pakistan to Afghanistan, hoping to prevent the U.S.-led coalition assault on the Taliban for hosting al-Qaida.

Shamzai had met with bin Laden sometime before Sept. 11, and with the reclusive, one-eyed Taliban chief, Mullah Mohammed Omar.

--

[lucky wilbury]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/st...053105997.html


Bomb Blast in Pakistan Mosque Kills 16
By ZARAR KHAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) -

A bomb ripped through a Shiite Muslim mosque in Karachi during evening prayers Monday, killing at least 16 people and wounding 38 others. A top Pakistani official said the blast could be revenge for the assassination of a senior Sunni cleric.

Hundreds of Shiite youths rioted after the explosion at the Imam Bargah Ali Raza mosque, which came a day after unidentified gunmen killed the Nazamuddin Shamzai.

The rioters burned shops and vehicles and blocked highways and the main rail line. Provincial police chief Kamal Shah said two men trying to steal an ambulance were shot and killed. Seven others were injured when police opened fire to disperse the crowd.

The explosion was the latest in a series of terror attacks in Pakistan's largest city. It was not clear yet if it was the work of a suicide bomber.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdur Rauf Chaudhry told The Associated Press that the bombing "could be a reaction to" Shamzai's slaying, which triggered riots Sunday across this eastern city and stoked fears of more sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites.

The blast cracked walls, destroyed an inner office and badly damaged a room where people wash up before praying at the mosque, which is located near the city center on Karachi's main highway.

It also shattered windows in a tall building opposite the mosque, leaving shards of glass on the asphalt.

Karachi police chief Asad Ashraf Malik said at least 16 people were killed and 38 injured. He said a body retrieved from the scene was being examined to determine whether it was that of a suicide bomber.

"We have not reached any conclusion yet," he said. An investigator at the scene also said there did not appear to be a crater, which suggested a suicide bombing.

A worshipper inside the mosque, Ghulam Ali, said he thought a bomb had been thrown inside from a passing car. He described hearing a thud and seeing a speeding car drive away before the blast.

The mosque then filled with smoke and people inside ran around in panic, said Ali, who was bleeding from his wounds.

"I heard a big explosion, followed by flames from the front of the mosque. And I saw two injured people falling on the road, bleeding, and one had no legs," said Ghulam Hussain, a fruit vendor.

Ali Abbas, a young worshipper, tried to push people out of the area, afraid an abandoned bag inside the mosque contained another bomb. Bomb disposal experts later took the bag away.

Saqlain Raza, a worshipper who was parking his motorcycle outside when the blast occurred, estimated that 30-35 people were inside the mosque at the time.

"One 3-year old child was bleeding from the head and stomach," he said. "I carried the boy out and a car took him to hospital."

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said President Gen. Pervez Musharraf expressed grief over the killings and would take an "important step" in response. He did not elaborate.

Karachi - Pakistan's largest city of 14 million people and the country's commercial center - has been the scene of recent sectarian violence and terrorist attacks. Those include two car bombings near the U.S. Consul's residence last week and a May 7 suicide bombing at a Shiite Muslim mosque that killed 20 people.

Police have formed a special task force to investigate the slaying of Shamzai, a cleric in his 70s who had been a strong supporter of the former Taliban regime in neighboring Afghanistan and had met al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.

Witnesses said his assassins included as many as six gunmen riding in two cars and a motorcycle. They sprayed Shamzai's car with bullets Sunday morning, killing him and wounding one of his sons, a nephew, a driver and a police bodyguard.

Much of Karachi's violence is blamed on Islamic militants, angered by Musharraf's support for the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism in Afghanistan, but clashes between rival Sunni and Shiite Muslims are also common.