Police shoot key Pakistani 'extremist'

Monday, April 5, 1999 Published at 20:56 GMT 21:56 UK

Pakistani police say they have shot dead a man they described as Pakistan's "most wanted" terrorist.

Riad Basra and his associate, Aziz ur Rehman, were killed in a gun battle that lasted almost three hours around the city of Sargodha, 170 km from the eastern Punjab capital of Lahore.

Six other men, who had been travelling in a car with Mr Basra, were arrested.

They were all thought to be members of the Sunni Muslim group Mr Basra founded - Lashkar i Jangvi.

According to officials, Mr Bazra was tracked down after police traced calls being made on his mobile telephone.

Murder charges

Mr Basra was wanted in connection with several hundred sectarian murders.

And his organisation stands accused of a failed plot to assassinate the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, earlier this year.

At the time of Mr Basra's death, he was thought to have 300 men at his command,

Police have stepped up security in the region to prevent retaliatory attacks by his supporters.

Prison break

Riaz Basra was arrested in 1992 and sentenced to death for the murder of Iranian diplomat Sadeq Ganji, who was gunned down in Lahore in 1990.

But Mr Basra has been on the run ever since escaping from prison in 1994.

Over the years, the Pakistani media have periodically published his photograph, offering rewards for any information leading to his arrest, and a massive five million rupees ($100,000) for capturing him.

Killings admitted

Riaz Basra's group, Lashkar i Jangvi, has a reputation as one of the most extreme groups in Pakistan.

The organisation claimed to have killed Iranian diplomats and officials in Pakistan.

Pakistani officials say they have been putting pressure on Lashkar i Jangvi ever since the attempted assassination of the prime minister earlier this year.

Sectarian violence involving extremist Sunni and Shi'ite factions in Punjab has claimed about 300 lives over the past three years.

Pakistani police shoot wrong man

Wednesday, April 7, 1999 Published at 12:00 GMT 13:00 UK

Pakistani police have said that Pakistan's "most wanted terrorist" - who they said they had shot dead on Monday - is still alive and at large.

Fingerprints and distinguishing marks on the dead man did not match those of the wanted man, a senior Punjabi official has revealed.

Riaz Basra and his associate, Aziz ur Rehman, were thought to have been killed in a gun battle that lasted almost three hours around the city of Sargodha, 170 km from the eastern Punjab capital of Lahore.

Punjab Province Governor Shahid Hamid has confirmed that it was not Basra, but another "hardened criminal" belonging to the Sunni Muslim Lashkar-i-Jangvi group that Basra founded.

Assassination attempt

Six other men were arrested during the gun fight.

Basra is wanted in connection with several hundred sectarian murders, mostly of members of minority Shi'ite Muslim groups.

And his organisation stands accused of a failed plot to assassinate Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif earlier this year.

The Pakistani government has announced a bounty of 5m rupees for information leading to Basra's arrest.

He has been arrested before, in 1992, when he was sentenced to death for the murder of Iranian diplomat Sadeq Ganji - gunned down in Lahore in 1990.

300 dead

But Basra has been on the run ever since escaping from prison in 1994.

The Lashkar-i-Jangvi group has a reputation as one of the most extreme organisations in Pakistan.

The group claimed to have killed Iranian diplomats and officials in Pakistan.

Pakistani officials say they have been putting pressure on Lashkar i Jangvi ever since the attempted assassination of the prime minister earlier this year.

Sectarian violence involving extremist Sunni and Shi'ite factions in Punjab has claimed about 300 lives over the past three years.