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A prominent religious leader in Karachi was shot dead on Sunday, the BBC reported. According to Monday’s report, Dr Athar Qureshi was walking to a mosque when three men in a vehicle approached him and one of them opened fire. Qureshi, who was a former leader of the Jamaat-e Islami (Party of Islam), as well as a former member of the Sindh provincial assembly, had supported calls for Islamic law to be introduced in Pakistan.
Despite a ban on public rallies by the 14 month-old military government, the government has been reluctant to be heavy handed against religious parties, fearing a backlash. On Sunday, supporters of Jamaat-e Islami rallied in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad demanding the resignation of Pakistan’s military leader, General Pervez Musharraf, the report said. Karachi has been the scene of intense ethnic, religious and political feuds recently, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people, it added.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions