Posted on 07/02/2003 12:23:21 PM PDT by knighthawk
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities have detained a suspected Islamic militant who allegedly masterminded three attacks on Christians last year, killing nearly a dozen people including two Americans, intelligence officials said Wednesday.
More than 50 people were wounded in the attacks last year in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, and two other locations.
Abdul Jabbar was picked up during a raid in a remote village near the city of Sargodha, 200 kilometres southwest of Islamabad, an intelligence official told The Associated Press.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Jabbar played a key role in organizing the attacks on two churches and a missionary school in 2002.
The Interior Ministry refused to confirm or deny the arrest.
But officials familiar with the suspect's interrogations said Jabbar is being questioned about his alleged role in the attacks.
Five people, including two Americans, were killed on March 17, 2002, when a militant hurled grenades into a Protestant church in Islamabad attended by members of the diplomatic community. The attack also wounded 45 worshippers.
The dead Americans were Barbara Green, a US Embassy staffer, and her daughter Kristen Wormsley. The others killed included one Afghan, one Pakistani and one of unknown nationality.
On Aug. 5, 2002, masked assailants stormed a Christian school campus in Murree, about 50 kilometres east of Islamabad, killing six Pakistanis and wounding two others.
Four days later, three militants tossed grenades at a church on the grounds of a Presbyterian hospital in Taxila, about 40 kilometres west of Islamabad, killing four nurses and wounding about 25 people. One attacker also died.
Jabbar allegedly heads a faction of the outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammed group.
Members of the group have also been accused by India of carrying out an attack on the Indian Parliament on Dec. 13, 2001.
The group is believed to be mainly active in India's part of Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan region which has been the cause of two wars between Pakistan and India since they gained independence from Britain in 1947.
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