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Pakistanis Charged With Inciting Violence At Afghan Protest

QALAT, Afghanistan; 9 February 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Afghan officials in the volatile southern province of Zabol say more than 40 Pakistani workers have been arrested along with their Saudi Arabian boss on charges of inciting violence during a demonstration 8 February.

Four people were killed in Zabol's capital of Qalat when police opened fire on a crowd of protesters angered by the European publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad deemed by many Muslims as blasphemous.

The demonstrators were throwing stones at troops from the Afghan National Army. They also set fire to several vehicles and a school.

General Mohammad Nabi Manakhail, Zabol's provincial security chief, told RFE/RL that all of those arrested were workers for a Pakistani construction firm.

"They have been identified. We arrested at least 30 people [on 8 February]," Manakhail said. "And we have also identified those foreigners who were the organizers of these demonstrations and were heading them. Soon we will decide what to do with them."

A Plan To 'Create Chaos'

Manakhail added: "There is a construction company working here whose boss is from Saudi Arabia. And a majority of its workers are Punjabis, citizens of neighboring [Pakistan]. They had planned to take to the city streets and create chaos."

At first, said Manakhail, the demonstration was peaceful. But then, he said, the Pakistanis began firing pistols, prompting Afghan National Army soldiers to fire back from their passing vehicle.

"This is how one of the demonstrators was killed," Manakhail said. "When I myself was trying to take injured people to hospital in my car, I saw another group of Punjabis throwing stones at shops [in Qalat]."

Zabol's Governor Golab Shah Alikhel says some detainees paid bribes to local Afghans to encourage them to join in violence.

Alikhel says a total of 41 Pakistanis workers were being held today along with their Saudi Arabian boss.

Zabul is one of the frontline provinces in the ongoing fight between U.S.-led coalition forces and the remnants of the Taliban militia and Al-Qaeda.

Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org