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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Ur-Rehman paid 2 million rupees for Quetta attack |
| 2004-03-09 |
| The police has arrested four suspects in connection with the Ashura killings and efforts are underway to arrest the suspects on the first information report, Balochistan Inspector General of Police Shoaib Saddal said on Monday Police blamed Al Qaeda for the suicide attack in which 47 people were killed, AFP reported. âWe have arrested four militants including one Shafiq-ur-Rehman, linked to an international terrorist organisation,â Mr Saddal told reporters. He said two of the four had links with sectarian violence in the past and their connections with the attackers would be investigated. The police chief said it was not clear whether the people whose sketches were published had links with the attackers. Mr Saddal described the arrests as a âbreakthroughâ in police efforts to unearth militants involved in sectarian attacks over the past few years. While he declined to name the intrernational organisation, a senior police officer privately told AFP that Saddal was referring to Al Qaeda. âMr Rehman received 2 million rupees from the international terrorist group and used it to construct a house in Mastung district in Balochistan,â Mr Saddal said. The house, he said, was used as a sanctuary for armed extremists who participated in last yearâs attack on the Quetta mosque. âHis friends got training in the use of heavy weapons and terrorism in Afghanistan,â the police chief said. He said three other men detained with Mr Rehman were being interrogated. Police expects the probe to help identifying the attackers in the March 2 incident, he said. A government minister earlier claimed that most of the casualties were caused by security forces. âMost of the killings were caused by police fire instead of the attack by terrorists,â Balochistan Sports Minister Younas Changezi told AFP on Monday.âI came to know through witnesses and Shia leaders that the ATF personnel fired on the mourners after being fired upon by the suicide attackers.â Mr Saddal refused to comment, saying he could not respond while a judicial inquiry was underway. He said action would be taken against all those found guilty of attacking the mourners. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Mr Rehman received 2 million rupees from the international terrorist group and used it to construct a house in Mastung district in Balochistan. The house was used as a sanctuary for armed extremists This does not mean that Rehman was paid or did pay two million rupees for the Quetta attack. Your headline is not supported by the story. . |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-3-9 7:41:43 AM |