s, at a Christian church in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
, a national calamity, Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability...
-Fazl (JUI-F) chief
Maulana Fazlur RehmanDeobandi holy man, known as
Mullah Dieselduring the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ...
Monday said it was an attempt to sabotage potential peace talks with Pak Talibs, DawnNews reported.
Speaking to media representatives here, he said the incident has diminished Pakistain's image internationally and demanded the authorities to unmask the culprits behind the incident.
Sunday's attack on All Saints church in the lovely provincial capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
, that killed more than 80 and injured at least 130, is believed to be the deadliest ever to target the country's small Christian minority.
The JUI-F chief said it was a national tragedy which should be probed by an independent commission at the Supreme Court level. "The perpetrators should be unveiled before the masses through a sincere investigation into the incident," he added.
Commenting on increasing terrorist attacks in the country, he said such acts were an attempt to destroy Pakistain's identity. "An impression that non-Moslems are not safe in the country has been propagated through the incident."
Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the twin suicide kabooms were carried out a time when Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
was at the United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
to present Pakistain's stance on US drone strikes.
Replying a query, he said sustaining peace in the region was the need of all stakeholders, adding that India and Pakistain were also advocating talks as only solution to the issues.