Man arrested for killing Pakistani Islamist leader

Islamabad May 11 (IANS) A man was arrested before he could board a plane to Qatar here on Thursday for killing the leader of a Pakistani Islamist group in 2003.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested Sibtain Kazmi on charges of murdering Maulana Azam Tariq a former chief of the Millat-i-Islamia that is now known as the outlawed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat.

Kazmi whose name was on the Exit Control List was apprehended by FIA officials at Islamabad airport while attempting to flee to Manchester via Doha the Dawn reported on Thursday.

Tariq was gunned down in Islamabad in October 2003 by three assailants who sprayed bullets at his car with AK-47 assault rifles.

He received 40 bullet wounds. All five people in the car were killed.

Tariq earlier headed Anjuman Sipah-i-Sahaba which later changed its name to Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan and then to Millat-i-Islamia. It is now known as Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat.

--IANS
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