Pakistan arrests six militants for sectarian killings

MULTAN, Pakistan, June 13 (Reuters) Pakistani police have arrested six members of a powerful Islamist group accused of masterminding attacks on rival Shi'ite Muslims, police today said.

The militants from the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militant group, were arrested last week in a raid by an elite police squad about 30 km (18 miles) from Multan city in Punjab province, police said in a statement.

''They were the planners of all suicide bombings and killings of renowned Shi'ite personalities carried out at various religious gatherings,'' police said, referring to attacks in various town in Punjab last year.

The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is one of Pakistan's most feared militant groups, blamed for most attacks on Shi'ite Muslims, who account for about 15 percent of Pakistan's overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim population of 150 million.

Several senior members of the group have been arrested in recent months and two sentenced to death, including Aslam Moaviya by a court on Monday for killing six Shi'ites in 1995.

The group had ties with the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the al Qaeda militant group.

It has been implicated in several attacks on Western targets since Pakistan joined the US-led war on terrorism following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Reuters SY GC2042