Posted on 04/14/2006 12:23:38 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
KARACHI (AFP) - Commercial life ground to a halt in several Pakistani cities in a strike called by an Islamic party to protest this week's suicide attack that killed its top leaders and some 50 others.
Army troops took up positions in Karachi, where a suicide bomber Tuesday blew himself up on the dais at a public rally commemorating the anniversary of the birth of Prophet Mohammed.
The bombing killed the entire leadership of Sunni Tehreek, a moderate Muslim group, sparking rioting in the volatile port city during which protestors burned shops, vehicles and public property.
The attack placed the government of President Pervez Musharraf under pressure over what Islamic parties called its failure to ensure security.
In addition to troops, police spread out in the port city of 15 million people, which has a history of political, sectarian and ethnic violence and is the country's revenue engine.
Public transport was off the roads in Karachi and traffic was reduced.
Some 50,000 people flocked to the burials Thursday of the four slain leaders amid tight security.
Authorities have already closed educational institutions and also shut all gas stations in Karachi apparently for fear of a repetition of a burning of a petrol pump after Tuesday's bombing by angry supporters of the party.
"There was a total shut down throughout Pakistan," Sunni Tehreek spokesman Shahzad Munir told AFP.
He said a meeting of a coordination committee was in progress to decide the group's next move after a deadline it had handed the authorities for arresting those behind the bombing expired.
Officials said the strike passed off peacefully.
Several other Sunni and Shiite religious groups also rallied to condemn Tuesday's massacre.
Markets and petrol pumps were closed in the central cities of Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan where hundreds of people gathered after Friday evening prayers.
Partial strikes were also observed in the second largest city of Lahore and in Peshawar in the northwest.
Hundreds of people took part in a peaceful rally in Islamabad, where Islamic leaders told the crowd the attack was a conspiracy to divide the nation on religious lines.
Sindh provincial government spokesman Salahuddin Haider said in Karachi that the government had decided to withdraw army reinforcements deployed in the city.
"The situation has improved and we are withdrawing the army," he told AFP.
Separately police used teargas to disperse the activists of Sunni Tehreek after they clashed with members of a rival group for the control of a mosque in Karachi, local police official Mohammed Khalid said.
The rival groups traded fire and set ablaze a bus and burnt old tires during a bout to control the disputed Madina Mosque in Karachi's Shah Faisal colony, he said.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz briefed President Musharraf late Thursday after a visit to Karachi where he held talks with religious leaders to urge calm and restraint.
Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said investigators were trying to identify a head found at the bombing site, believed to be that of the suicide bomber.
"We have also found pallets from the park, which the suicide bomber had strapped on to his body along with explosive material to cause maximum damage," Sherpao told federal parliament Thursday.
The government has announced a 10-million rupee (167,000-dollar) reward for information leading to arrest of those who planned the attack.
Pakistani Muslims pray for suicide attack victims during a protest in Peshawar. Commercial life ground to a halt in several Pakistani cities in a strike called by an Islamic party to protest this week's suicide attack that killed its top leaders and some 50 others.(AFP/Tariq Mahmood)
Geez, why didn't they just have a normal fireworks display?
Separately police used teargas to disperse the activists of Sunni Tehreek after they clashed with members of a rival group for the control of a mosque in Karachi, local police official Mohammed Khalid said.
The rival group here is the Shia equivalent. The protestors here will be lusting for a suicide-bomb reply on the Shias soon.
Finally, this is from AgenceFrancePresse(AFP) after all.
Had this bombing targeted non-Muslims, would they be mad? Nope.
they're only upset because they were targeted.
The difference between Sunni and Shiite is something along the lines of whether a certain figure was the last of something or the first of something else. And for this, they kill each other. Don't let the Methodists and Presbyterians figure out what they disagree about, cause we will all be in trouble then.
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