 |
| Malik
Ishaq, the leader of the al Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, waves to
throngs of supporters after he is released from custody in 2011. |
Pakistani police arrested Malik Ishaq, the leader of the al
Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, at his home in Rahim Yar Khan, just one
week after his terror group claimed credit for a bombing in Quetta that
killed at least 90 people. Ishaq has been accused of direct involvement
in numerous terrorist attacks but has never been convicted in a
Pakistani court.
Pakistani police have not disclosed the reason for Ishaq's arrest,
nor how long he will be in detention. "It was not immediately clear on
what charges he was arrested,"
Dawn reported.
Last week, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed credit for the murder of
more than 90 Pakistanis, mostly minority Shia, after detonating
nearly one ton of "high-grade" explosives
in the capital of Baluchistan province. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has
claimed credit for numerous terror attacks in Pakistan, and has
released videos of executions of captured Shia prisoners.
Ishaq has been in the custody of the Pakistani government in the
past. He was detained in 1997 after admitting to murdering more than 100
Pakistanis, but
was subsequently released by Pakistan's Supreme Court in July 2011.
Ishaq has dodged numerous convictions by murdering and intimidating
witnesses, and even once told a judge that "dead men can't talk." [See
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and the "lack of evidence," from
Dawn, for more information on Pakistan's inability to convict Ishaq and his intimidation of witnesses.]
Ishaq doesn't hide his disdain for the political system in Pakistan,
and made it clear at the time of his release in 2011 that he intended to
continue to wage jihad.
"We are ready to lay down lives for the honor of the companions of
the Holy Prophet" Ishaq said after he was released from custody in 2011.
He was met by "Kalashnikov-wielding supporters on a Land Cruiser
motorcade,"
Dawn reported.
Ishaq has also been accused of plotting numerous terrorist attacks
while in custody, including the March 3, 2009 assault on the Sri Lankan
cricket team in Lahore.
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