|
Pakistani Authorities Crackdown on Jihad Bodies, Arrest 200
|
|
|
Pakistan bows to US pressures, cracking down on Jihad bodies |
By IOL Correspondent In Islamabad, Aamir Latif
ISLAMABAD, Jan. 5 (Islam Online) - Pakistani security agencies have arrested around 200 workers of Jihadi organizations, including leaders of two groups India blames for an attack last month on its Parliament in a night-long swoop in different cities, an Interior Ministry official told IslamOnline Friday.
Top leaders of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammad groups were detained, said Tasleem Noorani, the federal secretary for Pakistani interior affairs said. No names of the arrested were immediately available.
"The crackdown which started last night is still going on,'' Noorani said. Diplomatic sources cleared the arrests show Pakistan is serious about defusing tension with India.
A summit of South Asia leaders - attended by Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee - is scheduled to begin Saturday in Katmandu, Nepal.
Tension between archrivals Pakistan and India worsened after the Dec. 13 attack on New Delhi's Parliament killed 14 people, including five gunmen. India blames Pakistan's spy agency and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, both of which recently claimed to have moved their operations to Azad Kashmir for the Parliament assault.
Pakistan and the two groups deny the accusation.
Both nuclear-equipped countries have massed thousands of troops in the disputed region of Kashmir, where they have fired weapons and artillery at each other across the border.
Foreign leaders have implored both countries to find a peaceful solution.
Already in custody for making inflammatory speeches against the government are the heads of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammed - Hafiz Mohammed Saeed and Maulana Masood Azhar.
Hafiz Saeed, bowing to an apparent government pressure voluntarily resigned from the chairmanship of Lashkar a few days ago and announced to restrict the group set up within Azad and occupied Kashmir.
Police and security officials said about 80 of the latest arrests were made in the southern cities of Multan, Behawalpur, Behawalnagar, Rahim Yar Khan, Jhang, Sargodha and Faisalabad. Others were made in the port city of Karachi and the border town of Lahore.
|
