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| India-Pakistan |
| Abdul Sattar Edhi 'under Taliban threat' |
| 2012-06-16 |
| [Dawn] Pakistain's most revered social worker has been given round-the-clock protection against an alleged Taliban threat, officials said Friday. Abdul Sattar Edhi, 85, runs the country's largest charity, which operates hundreds of ambulances and shelters for women, children and the destitute. Described as a "living saint" for his modest lifestyle and charitable crusade, Edhi has won international peace awards and is one of Pakistain's most popular figures. But for the first time he now has round-the-clock police protection in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , Pakistain's largest city of 18 million where he is based. "There is a threat to him by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), which wants to kidnap him and use him to get their set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! bully boyz released in exchange," a Pak security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Two armed coppers, who each work a 12-hour shift, have been going everywhere with Edhi since June 5, the official said. Aslam Khan, a senior police official, said "a letter containing a hit-list has been intercepted, which includes Edhi and two police officials, including me," he said. Khan and Rao Anwar, the other police official on the alleged hit list, have both narrowly escaped kabooms in Bloody Karachi claimed by the TTP. Khan's house was flattened by a powerful bomb on September 19, 2011, while he was sleeping. He escaped unhurt but eight people were killed. Anwar was in an armoured personnel carrier on April 5 when it was rammed by a motorcyclist laden with explosives, killing four people. Edhi said he was carrying on regardless. "I have accepted the guards, but that won't deter me from doing my job to serve my people," he told AFP. But Edhi's son and deputy, Faisal, told AFP that the Taliban had visited his father's office on June 6 to assure him that he was not a target. "They told my father that they respect him and admire whatever he does, and won't target him ever," Faisal told AFP. |
| Posted by:Fred |