Mob Ends a Mixed Marathon in Pakistan

Activists belonging to an alliance of Islamic parties attacked a mini-marathon organized by a provincial government Sunday because women were running alongside men.

Members of the six-party Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, or United Action Forum, also called MMA, used sticks and stones to disperse a marathon at a stadium in Gujranwala, about 120 miles south of the capital.

Police fired tear gas canisters and shot into the air to break up the protest. A member of the National Assembly who belongs to the alliance, Qazi Hameedullah, and his son were among the 10 people injured.

Altaf Qamar, a local police official, told reporters that about 500 demonstrators attacked the stadium shortly after the race began.

“The mob disrupted the marathon and set ablaze cars and motorcycles parked in the stadium. We retaliated and dispersed the mob,” he said. Twenty people were arrested.

Alliance activists spread through the city and forced markets to close. Police said the protesters burned tires on the main highway and clashed with law enforcement authorities. Six officers reportedly were injured.

Saeed Khokhar, an alliance leader, said MMA considered it a violation of Islamic values for women to take part in the race.

Police arrested hundreds of MMA activists Friday, including five lawmakers, in Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital. About 200 were detained Saturday in Lahore after clashes with police wounded 18 people.

A general strike Saturday called by MMA to demand the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf shut down parts of Pakistan. Some shops were closed in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta.

Police also said Sunday that they arrested five alleged members of a Shiite Muslim militant group and seized a cache of arms and munitions in raids in southern Pakistan. The men, purportedly members of Baqiyatullah, a previously little-known group, were arrested Saturday night in Karachi, said Raja Omar Khattab, deputy superintendent of police in Karachi.

Another Karachi police official, Dost Ali Baloch, said at a news conference that 50 grenades, 10 rockets, eight AK-47 assault rifles, four pistols, ammunition and land mines were taken.

Baqiyatullah is believed to be an offshoot of another Shiite group, Sipah-e-Mohammed, which was banned in 2002 after it was accused of involvement in attacks against the majority Sunni Muslims. Small radical groups of Sunnis and Shiites are blamed for attacks that claim scores of lives every year.

*

Times wire services were used in compiling this report.