ISLAMABAD, 17 November 2003 — Hard-line Islamic activists, including a militant leader, were rounded up in raids across the country yesterday after the government outlawed three militant outfits that had regrouped under new names after they were banned.
A police officer said Sajid Ali Naqvi — head of one of the now banned groups, Islami Tehreek-e-Pakistan, and accused of involvement in sectarian violence — was picked up in an overnight swoop in the capital Islamabad.
Naqvi was arrested in connection with the killing of Maulana Azam Tariq, the leader of Millat-e-Islamia who was fatally shot Oct. 7 as he drove on the outskirts of Islamabad, Interior Ministry spokesman Abdur Rauf Chaudhry said. His alleged role in that killing was not clear.
The authorities also raided mosques, homes and militant bases across Pakistan early yesterday, picking up dozens of Islamic militants, another police officer in the central city of Multan said.
Pakistan, a staunch ally in the US-led war on terror, banned the renamed militant groups on Saturday, two days after US Ambassador to Pakistan Nancy Powell expressed concern over the re-emergence of these organizations.
The new orders ban Khudamul Islam, formerly Jaish-e-Mohammad, which has been fighting Indian rule in the disputed Kashmir region.
Relations between the nuclear-armed rivals have thawed but India refuses to resume peace talks unless Pakistan reins in Islamic militants from crossing into Indian-held Kashmir.
The government has also outlawed the radical Sunni group, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, which has regrouped as Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan, and rival Shiite Tehreek-e-Jafria Pakistan or Islami Tehreek-e-Pakistan.
Maulana Mohammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, a leader of Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan, said in Multan city that more than 50 activists from the party had been detained in overnight raids in Sindh and Punjab.
Also in Multan, 440 km (275 miles) south of Islamabad, hundreds of angry Shiites protested the arrest of Naqvi. “Al-jihad, Al-jihad (holy war),” the crowed shouted. “We will continue our struggle until the release of our leader.”
Protesters, mostly young men, chanting slogans such as “Down with America” and “Down with (President Pervez) Musharraf” as they marched through the streets of the city. They also demanded immediate release of Naqvi.
Leaders from the three banned groups said yesterday that they would challenge the ban.
A spokesman for Naqvi’s Tehreek-e-Islami rejected the charge against him, saying the leader was arrested for “political reasons.”
“We will definitely challenge the ban. It is injustice,” Izhar Bokhari said.
In Islamabad, a magistrate placed Naqvi in police custody for interrogation about Tariq’s assassination, said police spokesman Waseem Raza.
