Police seize Shiite massacre 'mastermind'

Police who raided a militant hideout said today they arrested the alleged mastermind of major sectarian attacks that killed more than 100 minority Shiite Muslims in south-western Pakistan.

Habib Ullah, a leader of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Sunni militant group, was captured yesterday at a home in Quetta, provincial police chief Chaudhry Mohammed Yaqub said.

Ullah is suspected of masterminding 28 attacks against Shiites, including two attacks in 2003 and 2004 that killed more than 100 people. Yaqub said Ullah had confessed to the crimes.

“This is a major success, and police are also trying to capture other associates of Habib Ullah,” Yaqub said.

At least 60 people died and dozens other were wounded on July 4 2003, when suspected Sunni militants with grenades and guns attacked a Shiite mosque in Quetta, the capital of south-western Baluchistan province.

In March 2004, suspected Sunni militants again struck a religious procession of Shiite Muslims in Quetta, throwing grenades and opening fire on worshippers before blowing themselves up in an attack that killed 47 people.

Yaqub said Ullah was an important figure in Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni militant group which is believed to have killed hundreds of Shiites in recent years.

Pakistan has a history of sectarian violence between extremists of the majority Sunni and minority Shiite sects.

About 80% of Pakistan’s 150 million people are Sunni and the rest Shiite. The vast majority live together in peace, but small radical groups on both sides frequently target each other’s worship places and leaders.

The confrontation between Shiite and Sunni Muslims dates back to the 7th century when they fell out over who was the rightful successor to the Prophet Mohammed following his death.