PAKISTAN: PRO-IRANIAN SUNNI GROUP TARGET OF KARACHI BLAST

Karachi, 12 April (AKI) - (by Syed Saleem Shahzad) - The southern Pakistani city of Karachi came to a standstill Wednesday in the wake of the previous night's suicide bomb attack at a religious gathering which killed at least 57 people. The suspected bomber detonated the explosive he was carrying while he stood among worshippers during Muslim evening prayer on Tuesday, according to a senior Pakistani police officer Niaz Siddiqui. The motives behind the blast in the city's Nishtar Park are still unclear but there are indications that the target was a pro-Iranian Sunni group known as Sunni Tehrik. Most of the group's top leaders were killed in the blast.

At the time of the bomb blast tens of thousands of Sunni Muslims had been taking part in evening prayers in the park. In the aftermath of the attack angry crowds spilled into the city's streets, accusing the police of failing to provide adequate security. Hundreds of youths threw stones at the police and set vehicles on fire. Riots also spread to towns on the outskirts of Karachi including Baldia and Shah Faisal Colony.

On Wednesday many groups called for a period of mourning while businesses and shops remained closed. The Karachi Stock Exchange also shut down while the city's education department ordered the closure of all schools.

Prominent Sunni Tehrik leaders killed in the attack included Hafiz Taqi, Haji Hanif Bilo, Abbas Qadri, Iftiqhar Bhatti and Akram Qadri. Another leader, Kokab Noorani, was injured. Eyewitnesses said that the blast occured near a stage where the religious scholars had gathered for prayers.

"It's better to ask who survived!" said one mourner, apparently referring to two former Pakistani cabinet ministers, Maulana Shah Turabul Haq Qadri and Haji Hanif Tayyab, who moved away from the stage just before the blast occurred.

Sunni Tehrik initially began as a moderate group opposed to the hardline Salafite Islam espoused by such groups as the banned Sepah-i-Sahabah Pakistan.

However, in recent years Sunni Tehrik has taken a more radical stance opposing the policies of the pro-American Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which draws most of its membership from the families of people who moved from India to Pakistan when the latter came into being in 1947.

Last year, rivalry between the two groups often turned into violence with 11 Sunni Tehrik members killed in just one incident.

Other religious leaders slain in Tuesday's attack, Haji Hanif Bilo and Hafiz Taqi were mostly non-controversial and only renowned for their social and religious works.