Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=08/22/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-279570

TITLE=PAKISTAN ARRESTS / S

BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE

DATELINE=ISLAMABAD

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Police in the port city, Karachi, Pakistan, have arrested more

than 200 people who police say belong to militant groups involved in

sectarian violence and separatist insurgency in Kashmir. V-O-A's Jim

Teeple reports from Islamabad the raids are the latest sign that Pakistan's

government is serious about its pledge to crackdown on the militants.

TEXT: In a series of sweeping police raids, authorities arrested more

than 200 militants and confiscated hundreds of weapons and political

paraphernalia, such as banners the groups use in their public demonstrations.

A spokesman for Lashkar-e-Toiba -- a hard-line militant group with hundreds

of fighters in Indian-administered Kashmir -- says Lashkar offices in Karachi

were raided and a number of its members are in police custody.

Earlier this week, authorities in Sindh Province issued an order banning

such groups from displaying public banners, or engaging in fund raising to

promote sectarian violence or "jihad" or "holy war" activities in Kashmir.

Last week, Pakistan's government banned two rival militant sectarian

organizations, said to be responsible for hundreds of deaths in sectarian violence

between Muslim Sunni and Shi'ite sects. Pakistan's president, General

Pervez Musharraf, announced a crackdown on such groups in a speech

marking Pakistan's Independence Day observances, August 14th. (Signed)

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