| Police arrested two members of the banned Hizbut Tehrir (HT) group in Karachi on Monday for distributing leaflets which denounced the government's pro-US policies. The two men, both in their 20s, were arrested from two separate neighbourhoods in eastern Karachi, police said. "They have been booked under the anti-terrorism law," said Ahmed Yar Chohan, a superintendent of police. "They could face a jail term of up to five years if convicted," he said. The group, formed in Jerusalem in 1953, started operations in Pakistan only three years ago. But the government, a staunch ally of Washington in the war on terror, banned it last year. Hizbut Tehrir wants to remove the pro-US government of President Pervez Musharraf and establish a pan-Islamic state. The small, secretive group has a following among educated and professional Pakistanis, many with British and US passports. Some militant groups have carried out attacks on government officials, Westerners and religious minorities, but Hizb says militancy was not on its agenda. |