ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's military-led government, determined to curb rising sectarian violence, deployed army and paramilitary forces on Wednesday to prevent violence as Shi'ite Muslims marked an annual religious event.
After a recent spate of sectarian killings, witnesses said security was exceptionally high ahead of Shi'ite Ashura (mourning) processions which mark the martyrdom of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussain 14 centuries ago.
"The army is fully prepared to undertake any strategic action to monitor processions in different parts of the city," Major General Ehtisham Zamir, who commands Pakistan Army's 5 Corps in Karachi, told Reuters.
He said army troops had already mapped out sensitive locations so as to be able to respond swiftly if violence erupts.
Shi'ite officials said at least 45 followers have been killed since January, but they were not expecting any major trouble during the two-day mourning period on Wednesday and Thursday.
Devout Shi'ites march in processions with some followers beating their breasts and flaying themselves with blades attached to thin chains.
"The government is providing quite a strict security," said a spokesman of the country's main Shi'ite party Tehrik-e-Jafria Pakistan. "Lets hope there is no violence," he added.
Witnesses said the security agencies had cordoned off routes from where the main Shi'ite processions were to pass and police marksmen were keeping watch from roof tops.
MILITARY PATROLS
In the capital Islamabad, army jeeps patrolled the main procession routes and police stopped vehicles to check for arms at some entry points to the city.
There was no immediate report of any violence at the start of the processions on Wednesday.
Disputes between minority Shi'ite and majority Sunni Muslims have claimed hundreds of lives in Pakistan in the last ten years.
According to the Sunni militant group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, more than 1,500 Sunnis have been killed in Pakistan since 1990 and more than 600 others jailed.
The Shi'ite spokesman said about 1,450 of their followers had been killed in sectarian attacks since 1985.
Military-ruler General Pervez Musharraf has vowed to clamp down on sectarianism and last month his cabinet approved plans to introduce a new law to ban groups linked to violence between rival Muslims sects.
Shi'ites form about 15 percent of Pakistan's Sunni-dominated population of more than 134 million.
06:57 04-04-01
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