5,000-strong peace rally denounces terrorism in Karachi

KARACHI (AFP) Jun 06, 2004
Some 5,000 peace activists, including women, rallied in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi Sunday to denounce acts of terror which claimed some 50 lives here last month, witnesses said.

Chanting "No to terrorism, Yes to peace," and "No to guns, Yes to pens," marchers carrying banners, placards and national flags paraded in the streets.

The rally was led by Sindh Provincial Governor Ishratul Ibad and Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Mahar.

"People of Karachi want peace, economic prosperity. We will not allow terrorism ... in the name of Islam," Ibad told the participants.

Some 50 people were killed in May, including a top Sunni cleric, in two suspected suicide bomb attacks on Shiite mosques.

Karachi has a history of political, ethnic and sectarian violence which has claimed 4,000 lives in the past several years.

WAR.WIRE