The Hindu : JeM militants among four held for church attack

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 27, 2002

International

International

JeM militants among four held for church attack

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Dec. 26. Four persons, including a cleric preaching at a mosque, have been detained by the Pakistan police in connection with the grenade attack on a church in the Chianwala village of the Punjab province on Christmas Day that killed three persons and injured 14. Many people, most of them children and women, were attending special prayers in the United Presbyterian Church in Daska at the time of the attack.

A police officer was quoted as saying that two of the four who have been detained are members of the banned militant outfit, Jaish-e-Mohammad. They had "received armed training... at a Jaish centre in Pakistan.'' The statement is significant, because, for the first time, police have talked about the existence of a JeM camp.

There is little doubt that Wednesday's incident has jolted Islamabad. This was evident from the reaction of the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, and the Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali. Both issued separate statements condemning the attack and reiterating their resolve to tackle terrorism.

``Such reprehensible acts are committed by those anti-Pakistan elements who wish to disrupt peace and tranquillity and create dissension among different communities in the country,'' the APP news agency quoted Gen. Musharraf as saying. Mr. Jamali described the attack as ``dastardly'' and designed to ``foment religious and sectarian strife'' in Pakistan.

On December 14, the Lahore High Court ordered the release of the banned JeM chief, Maulana Masood Azhar, on the ground that the Government had failed to produce any charges against him. Local media reports suggest that he has not been released and that the Government is considering issuing a fresh chargesheet against him. Azhar was one of the three terrorists swapped for the release of passengers aboard a plane hijacked to Kandahar in 1999.

Gen. Musharraf banned the JeM along with four other groups in January last year. It was seen as a move to address the concerns of the international community and India over militant outfits operating in Pakistan with a global agenda.

The preacher, who belongs to Chianwala, was detained because he allegedly made hateful remarks against Christians three days earlier in a sermon at a mosque in Daska. His son was also detained for questioning. The two are said to be open supporters of JeM.

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