 Pakistani security agencies have detained up to 600 suspected militants, clerics and Islamist activists in a country-wide crackdown during the past week, officials said on Wednesday.
| I don't imagine they'll remain in jug for any really extended period. Most have probably made bail by now. |
| Recgonizance bonds are easier in Pakiwakiland since everybody knows everybody. |
The crackdown launched on the orders of President Pervez Musharraf came after revelations that three of the four suspected suicide bombers in the July 7 attacks on London were Britons of Pakistani descent and at least two had visited Pakistan.
| I thought it was three out of four? |
"We have detained around 600 people throughout the country so far," a senior government official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. He said those detained included members of banned militant organizations, clerics accused of delivering "provocative" speeches and Islamists accused of publishing or distributing hate material. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said 280 members of banned militants groups had been detained while others being held were involved in offences like "misusing loudspeakers" in the mosques. He gave no other details.
| I think I'd go nutz living within hollering range of a mosque, where the holy man was likely to fire up the loudspeakers at all hours to rant about something or other. Come to think of it, since we're discussing Pakland, a significant number of people might have done just that. Another one to file under "where we get our jihadis." |
Pakistani officials say some of those detained would be tried under the country's Anti-Terrorism Law, which allows the authorities to hold a suspect for up to a year without laying charges. Those detained include members of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, three groups that have links with the al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden.
| I think of them as being divisions of al-Qaeda, kinda like Buick's a division of General Motors... |
Some of those detained are also members of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, an opposition alliance of mainstream conservative religious parties.
"Honey! We'll have to take out another mortgage! The holy man needs bail money!"
"Again?" |
British diplomats in Islamabad have said that no one detained in Pakistan was linked to the July 7 London bombings in which at least 56 people were killed.
| Oh. Well. In that case let them all go, by all means... |
In a televised address last week, Musharraf called on the nation to wage a holy war against preachers of hate and announced steps to curb militant Islamic schools and groups. At the same time, he said, Britain had much to address at home in the war against terrorism without getting into a blame game with Pakistan. |