[AnNahar] The leader of a banned Pak sectarian bully boy group who was set to walk free from jail is being held for two more weeks in a murder case, officials said Thursday.Malik Ishaq, the head of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...
(LeJ) which is dedicated to killing minority Shiite Moslems, was to be released on Thursday after the Punjab provincial government withdrew a request to extend his detention under public order laws.
But he has now been detained in a murder case, a police official said, and is being held in the central city of Multan.
The news of Ishaq comes with the country ramping up its anti-terror strategy after an attack on an army-run school this month killed 150 people, spurring the country to set up military courts and drop its moratorium on capital punishment in terror cases."Ishaq was sent to jail on judicial remand until January 6 by an anti-terrorist court on Wednesday and he will be produced before the court again on January 7," Ghulam Mohiuddin told AFP.
LeJ has grabbed credit for numerous bloody attacks, including two bombings targeting Shiites in the southwestern city of Quetta in 2013 that killed a total of nearly 200 people.
Punjab's Home Minister Shujah Khanzada also confirmed Ishaq's arrest and said the government had decided not to release Ishaq, who is still facing several cases, because of recent security tensions.
"The government has placed in durance vile
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
him again... on the basis of new cases registered against him," he said.
Khanzada did not give details on the nature of the new cases.
Ishaq, named a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" by the U.S., has been implicated in numerous murder cases and was accused of criminal masterminding a 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore which killed eight people.
An anti-terror court in May cleared him of inciting violence and of making speeches which fomented hate but he was held under maintenance of public order laws.
Pakistain has ramped up its anti-terror strategy since the December 16 attack on an army-run school 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.
which killed 150 people, 134 of them children.
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...
also said on Thursday that the country will set up military courts for terror-related cases, as part of an ambitious anti-terrorism plan.
Six convicts have already been hanged after Sharif lifted a moratorium on executions in terror cases, and the military has stepped up operations against holy warrior bases in the tribal northwest.
Officials said Monday that Pakistain plans to execute around 500 snuffies in the coming weeks.