KARACHI, 7 March 2004 — A senior opposition provincial lawmaker and his driver were slain in a drive-by shooting in southern Pakistan yesterday, triggering a riot by his supporters.
Two gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on a car carrying Abdullah Murad, 42, a member of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s opposition Pakistan People’s Party, as he traveled home in a residential area of Karachi, the capital of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, said Asif Rouf, a police inspector.
Police said an investigation had begun but had no clue who was behind the killings.
About 5,000 people later attended the funeral in Karachi for Murad, a member of the provincial Sindh Assembly.
Afterward, hundreds of his supporters went on a rampage, setting fire to a gas station, a mini bus and two other vehicles, police said. No injuries or arrests were reported. Also, some 200 Pakistan People’s Party supporters blocked a highway and disrupted rail traffic in Karachi.
Tariq Jamil, another Karachi police officer, said authorities were negotiating with protest leaders to reopen the road.
Ms. Bhutto, who was Pakistan’s prime minister twice, has been living in self-imposed exile since 1999, when she fled to avoid arrest on corruption charges.
The PPP is the largest single party in the Sindh assembly but the province is governed by a coalition led by ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q.
PPP provincial chief, Muzaffar Ali Shajjra, while condemning the killing of his colleague, demanded that the government ensure the speedy arrest of the culprits.
The incident happened ahead of an eagerly-awaited India-Pakistan cricket series beginning March 13 in Karachi with a one-day event.
Karachi has been a flashpoint of ethnic and sectarian violence for the last two decades.
