Musharraf Vows Stern Action Against Pakistan's Sectarian Clashes
ISLAMABAD, March 7
(News Agencies) - Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf Wednesday vowed stern action against "terrorists" involved in the recent spate of sectarian violence.
"I want to say this very categorically that anyone who has indulged in such killings and whosoever is behind these killings, would be taken to task sternly," Musharraf was quoted by Pakistan official APP news agency as saying.
On his arrival from Saudi Arabia where he performed Hajj, Musharraf said he deeply deplored the killings, which swept across the country after the February 28th hanging of Sunni activist Haq Nawaz.
Nawaz was convicted in the 1990 murder of an Iranian diplomat, Sadiq Gunji.
The ensuing violence claimed more than 25 lives and prompted the police to take unprecedented security measures to ensure peace during the three-day Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha that started Tuesday.
Pakistani police on Monday said they had arrested two key people involved in the Sheikhupura killings and a hunt was on to arrest another four.
Twelve people died on Sunday when six gunmen in two groups opened fire at a Shiite shop and a gathering at a Shiite graveyard in Sheikhupura, 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the Punjab provincial capital Lahore.
Fourteen people died when clashes erupted between majority Sunni and minority Shiite communities in northwestern city of Hangu last week.
Police have blamed an underground Sunni group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi for the weekend attacks on minority Shiites in Punjabi town of Sheikuhupra.
