Pak religious leaders hold talks to end sectarian strife

Even as religious leaders on Monday announced a code of conduct to end Shiite-Sunni killings, two more Shiite Muslims were shot dead, taking the toll in the recent violence to 17.

As Pakistan's religious leaders sat at the negotiation table in Lahore to try to stop religious killings, two more Shiite Muslims were gunned down, news reports said on Tuesday.

Shiite leader Shukar Din was sitting in his home in Lahore on Monday night when two men knocked at his door looking for a glass of water. As his friend went to fetch a glass of water, the men opened fire with automatic rifles killing Din, according to the state-run news agency, Associated Press of Pakistan.

About 120 km away in Faisalabad another Shiite Muslim was killed by three gunmen. Sheikh Mohammed Irshad was outside his tiny shop in a congested lane of Faisalabad on Monday night when three men on a motorcycle roared past. They opened fire and Irshad died immediately, APP reported.

The latest deaths bring to 17 the number of religious killings since April 28, when the Punjab provincial government launched a crackdown on one of Pakistan's most militant Sunni Muslim groups, the Guardians of the Friends of the Prophet.

Most of the dead have been members of Pakistan's minority Shiite Muslim sect. Although no one has taken responsibility for the killings and few arrests have been made, police blame militant Sunni Muslims, who revile Shiite Muslims as non-Muslims.

The GFP accuses Iran, which is basically a Shiite nation, of arming and financing Shiite militants in Pakistan.

As the Islamic holy month of Muharram approaches, the authorities in Pakistan fear an upsurge in violence against Shiites who spend this month mourning the death of the grandson of Prophet Mohammed.

In an attempt to curb the violence between militant members of the two sects, representatives of 15 different religious groups met at a government guest house in Lahore on Monday.

A code of conduct emerged from the meeting, according to the independent newspaper The News.

The code of conduct demands that religious parties honour the beliefs of other sects, avoid criticising rival sects, stop preaching or issuing fatwas (edicts) against other sects.

While most Pakistanis are Sunni Muslims, they generally get along with their Shiite brethren. It is only a small group of militants who clash, but they are heavily armed, say the police.

Since the latest round of violent attacks most often against Shiite Muslims, government officials have begun publicly contemplating banning sectarian parties, although no decision has been made.

UNI