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| Monday, 20 October 2003 |
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Religious killings raise questions over Musharraf's anti-extremist drive ISLAMABAD, Sunday (AFP) The resurgence of killings among the rival Sunni and Shiite sects of Islam, climaxing with the assassination of Sunni icon Azam Tariq, has underscored long-held doubts about the direction of Pakistan's crackdown on Islamic militancy, analysts say. Tariq's death "was the most foretold in Pakistan," the Daily Times newspaper said, questioning how one of the most high-profile sectarian leaders could be gunned down in broad daylight as he entered the nation's tiny, quiet capital. No one has been arrested for the October 6 killing, the most high profile of at least 76 Shiite and Sunni deaths this year. President Pervez Musharraf has made an official crackdown on Muslim extremists a hallmark of his rule. In January 2002, four months into his role as one of the war on terror's most important allies, General Musharraf outlawed five Islamic militant groups, and ordered the arrests of up to 2,000 of their followers.Most of their leaders were already behind bars, locked up ahead of the United States' bombardment of Afghanistan in October 2001 to stave off a feared violent backlash. Almost two years on, at least four of the outlawed organisations are operating under new names and their leaders are out of jail. Tariq went straight from his prison cell to a seat in the federal parliament, despite his violent Sunni organisation Sipah-e-Sahaba being among those outlawed in January last year, and despite the 17 Shiite murder cases he was charged with. "If these groups are banned and they rename themselves, you can only freeze the assets of a banned party," Pervez Cheema, director of the Islamabad-based Policy Research Institute, told AFP. Some analysts say Musharraf is seeking to keep both militants and the West happy. Military analyst and retired general Talat Masood said the battle against militants was made tougher by the absence of mainstream civilian political power and will. |
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