Pakistanis arrest leader of militants

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, September 28, 2005

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistani security agents raided a home near Islamabad and arrested the head of an al-Qaida-linked militant group accused of killing hundreds of minority Shiites, a security official said Wednesday.

Asif Chotto, the reputed head of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, was captured with other suspects in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near Islamabad, the official said.

Chotto is believed to have trained suicide bombers and masterminded major attacks against Shiites in recent years.

Pakistan has a history of sectarian violence, mostly blamed on rival majority Sunni and minority Shiite extremist groups. Although most of Pakistan’s Sunni and Shiite Muslims live peacefully together, small groups on both sides often target each other’s leaders and activists. The schism between Sunnis and Shiites dates to the seventh century and involves a dispute over who was the true heir to the prophet Muhammad.