ISLAMABAD, Pakistani - Pakistani police arrested the head of an extremist Sunni Muslim group and have detained up to 650 activists ahead of the execution of one of the group who was convicted of killing an Iranian diplomat in 1990, officials in Lahore said Saturday.
Maulana Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, provincial minister for religious affairs in Punjab, told reporters Maulana Tariq Azam, head of the Anjuman Sipah Sahaba (ASS), was arrested in Jhang in Southern Punjab ''to maintain law and order.'' Many ASS followers were also detained.
Tahir also confirmed the Punjab government has issued a ''black warrant'' to hang ASS stalwart Sheikh Haq Nawaz in Minwali Prison next Wednesday.
Haq Nawaz and two accomplices were convicted of killing Sadiq Ganji, then director general of the Iranian Cultural Center in Lahore, in December 1990.
A last-minute postponement of Haq Nawaz's execution Jan. 24 on order of the Supreme Court led to protests from the Iranian government, which wants the Sunni leader dead.
AP-NY-02-24-01 0320EST
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