KARACHI, Pakistan - Police arrested hundreds of people in southern Pakistan on Sunday in an attempt to prevent a strike called by a Sunni Muslim group to protest the slaying of its leader.
About 450 people were arrested in Sindh province, including about 250 from Karachi, the provincial capital and the country's commercial center, ahead of Monday's strike organized by Sunni Tehrik, police said.
But Abbas Qadri, a leader of Sunni Tehrik, told The Associated Press that at least 3,000 of its supporters were arrested.
Sunni Tehrik called the strike to protest the May 18 killing of its leader, Saleem Qadri, and five of his companions, who were shot by unidentified assailants when they were going toward a mosque.
Police suspects a rival Sunni Muslim group, Sipah-e-Sahaba, or Guardians of the Friends of the Prophets, for the killings. Sipah-e-Sahaba, which denies the charge, is one of Pakistan's most militant Sunni Muslim groups and has sharp differences with Saleem Qadri's nonviolent Sunni Tehrik.
Abbas Qadri said his group, with several thousand members throughout Pakistan, would go ahead with the strike despite the arrests. The Sunni Tehrik has urged people to stay home on Monday and keep their businesses, shops, offices and schools shut.
Hundreds of people have been killed throughout Pakistan in religious violence in recent years. Most killings are the result of rivalry between extremist Sunni Muslim and Shiite Muslim groups. Hard-line Sunni Muslim factions also target one another's supporters.
Sunni Muslims, a majority in Islamic Pakistan, are divided into several schools of thought, which are often at loggerheads over small religious issues such as dress or beard length.
Shiite Muslims, who comprise 15 percent of the population, are the main target of extremist Sunni Muslim organizations.
AP-NY-05-27-01 1441EDT
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.