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Jamaatud Dawa leader Maulana Salfi gunned down
Maulana Muhammad Ibrahim Salfi, an Ahle Hadith cleric and the prayer leader of a mosque, was gunned down by unidentified assailants at the doorstep of his house in Township early on Sunday. He was the elder brother of Jamaatud Dawa leader Maulana Habibullah. Maulana Salfi, 55, was shot in his neck and head when he returned to his house in front of Jamia Masjid Alquds at 13-B-I Township after offering Fajr prayers. Aftab Ahmad Cheema, senior superintendent of police operations told Daily Times that the police was not sure that it was a sectarian killing. However, police sources said it was a target killing and evidence showed that it was a sectarian killing. Two assassination attempts were made against Maulana Salfi earlier.
More Sources said the area where Maulana Salfi lived was declared a high-tension one a few months ago. They said that there were several clashes between the people of two different sects for making speeches against each other's sects at the mosques in the area and police had to intervene and seal the two mosques. Maulana Sulfi's funeral prayers were offered at Government High School No-I in Township on after Maghrib prayers. Jamaatud Dawa ameer Hafiz Saeed led the funeral prayers. "We do not believe it was a sectarian murder," [Jamaatud Dawa Information Secretary] Yahya Mujahid told AFP. Mujahid blamed India for Salfi's killing. "This is terrorism. Since we are working in Kashmir, it is India which has done this," Mujahid told AP. Maulana Salfi was involved in preaching Islam and had "no political role" in the party, his spokesman said. Formerly Jamaatud Dawa was Lashkar-e-Taiba which was banned by President Pervez Musharraf in a crackdown against extremist groups in 2002. Jamaat-e-Islami leaders condemned the Maulana Salfi's murder. In a statement, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Liaqat Baloch, Farid Ahmad Piracha and Mian Maqsood Ahmed expressed their sorrow over the murder. Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-09-13 |
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