Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Pakistani court sentences two militants to death

Bureau Report - Zeenews.com - Quetta, Pakistan
Thursday, March 23, 2006

A Pakistani court today sentenced to death two bomb-makers involved in a sectarian attack that killed 43 people at Muslim shrine in southwest Pakistan a year ago, lawyers said.

While receiving life terms for their role in the attack on the shrine near Gandhawa town in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, the two men were sentenced to death after being found guilty of a subsequent attempt to assemble a bomb.
The anti-terrorism court in Sibi district, where Gandhawa is located, also sentenced three other men to life in prison for the attack on the shrine dedicated to a Muslim saint.

The convicted men were all members of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (Pakistan Army of the companions of the prophet) militant organisation. Sipah-e-Sahaba is a radical Sunni Muslim group which opposes Sufism, a mystical version of Islam propagated by saints. The group was banned by the government in 2002 as part of Pakistan's campaign to rein in Islamist militants.

Thousands of people had gathered at the shrine for an annual celebration when the blasts occurred.

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Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Pakistani court sentences two militants to death
Bureau Report - Zeenews.com - Quetta, Pakistan
Thursday, March 23, 2006

A Pakistani court today sentenced to death two bomb-makers involved in a sectarian attack that killed 43 people at Muslim shrine in southwest Pakistan a year ago, lawyers said.

While receiving life terms for their role in the attack on the shrine near Gandhawa town in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, the two men were sentenced to death after being found guilty of a subsequent attempt to assemble a bomb.
The anti-terrorism court in Sibi district, where Gandhawa is located, also sentenced three other men to life in prison for the attack on the shrine dedicated to a Muslim saint.

The convicted men were all members of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (Pakistan Army of the companions of the prophet) militant organisation. Sipah-e-Sahaba is a radical Sunni Muslim group which opposes Sufism, a mystical version of Islam propagated by saints. The group was banned by the government in 2002 as part of Pakistan's campaign to rein in Islamist militants.

Thousands of people had gathered at the shrine for an annual celebration when the blasts occurred.

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