DATE=10/1/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=PAK / RELIGIOUS KILLINGS / L
NUMBER=2-254548
BYLINE=SCOTT ANGER
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: At least ten people have been killed in two
separate incidents, as religiously-motivated attacks
continue in Pakistan. As Correspondent Scott Anger
reports, the killings are the latest in a recent
series of attacks on Shiite Muslims throughout
country, killing 14 people.
TEXT: Unidentified gunmen, carrying automatic
weapons, stormed a Shiite mosque in Karachi, while
worshipers knelt in prayer Friday. A man wounded in
the shooting told Reuters news agency, three attackers
fired hundreds rounds of bullets at people praying
during the Muslim holy day.
In a separate shooting, masked gunmen shot and killed
Akhtar Hussein Siddiqui -- a Shiite Muslim activist --
in the eastern Pakistani city, Multan.
The killings come just days after four people were
killed -- including two leaders of a Shiite Muslim
group -- in different incidents in Pakistan.
No one has claimed responsibility for the killings but
Shiite groups are blaming rival Sunni Muslim
extremists -- particularly the Sipah-e-Sahaba group.
This cell has been blamed for hundreds of attacks on
Shiite Muslims. The group has denied any involvement
in the killings.
Police say they have heightened security around all
religious schools and mosques in an effort to avert
more attacks.
///CHANTING CROWD, UP THEN FADE///
Meanwhile, activists from the Shiite group marched
through the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, chanting
slogans protesting the killings. The participants of
the rally condemned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's
government, which they say encourages the violence.
The government has recently released leaders of the
militant Sunni group, who had been serving jail
sentences for murdering Shiite activists. This move
has enraged Shiite groups across the country.
Sunni-dominated Pakistan has seen hundreds of people
killed in religiously-motivated crimes in recent
years. Much of the violence has been carried out by
Sunni and Shiite extremist groups with disputes over
Islamic beliefs. (SIGNED)
NEB/SA / wd
01-Oct-1999 06:58 AM LOC (01-Oct-1999 1058 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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