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| Britain | |
| Altaf Hussein Arrested in London | |
| 2014-06-04 | |
[ONLINE.WSJ] London police incarceratedInto the paddy wagon wit' yez! powerful Pak politician Altaf Hussain on Tuesday for suspected money laundering, a move that sparked panic in his hometown of Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... and pushed the sprawling metropolis into violent unrest. Mr. Hussain, a Pak-born naturalized U.K. citizen and former reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,... cabdriver, has long lived in self-imposed exile in London and had been the subject of a lengthy British police investigation. A figure with near-cult following in many parts of Karachi, he heads the Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... , a political party that dominates Pakistain's biggest city and represents Mohammedans who migrated there from what is now India at partition in 1947. The party rejected the money-laundering allegation. Mr. Hussain couldn't be reached in jug, and his lawyer in London, Robert Brown, said he was unable to immediately answer questions about the arrest and said he wasn't planning to issue a statement. MQM, whose followers have been involved in frequent acts of violence, is part of the government in the southern Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, and was an important partner in the previous federal government. An opponent of Islamists, the party traditionally has advocated liberal values and called for friendly ties with the West and India. Though the MQM appealed for calm as news of the arrest broke Tuesday, Karachi quickly went into lockdown amid sporadic incidents of violence. Bus companies suspended their operations. Roads quickly became choked with traffic as workers tried to get home early. There was a rush at grocery stores as residents stocked up on essential items. Petrol pumps shut down. "We can't get anything in Karachi right now. We might as well be living in a jungle," said Rashid Aslam, a frustrated motorist in central Karachi, complaining that he couldn't fuel his car. The Karachi Stock Exchange lost 786 points, or nearly 3%, within minutes of the first reports of the arrest but later pared its losses.
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| Posted by:Fred |