Pakistan's Karachi shuts to protest violence

Pakistan's commercial capital nearly shut down on Friday as religious and political leaders called for a strike to protest against violence after a suicide bomber killed 43 people at a religious procession this week.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for Monday's attack on a huge crowd of Shi''ite Muslims and threatened more bloodshed. 

The prospect of increased violence comes at a trying time for President Asif Ali Zardari, who faces political heat because corruption charges against some of his aides may be revived.

The pro-American leader has vowed to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda but they remain defiant, killing hundreds of people in bombings since October despite facing major government offensives.

In a sign of growing anxiety over security, the United Nations will withdraw some of its staff from Pakistan because of safety concerns, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Thursday.

On a visit to Karachi on Friday, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said militant groups were harming Pakistan, a country Washington needs to help stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan, where Western troops are battling a Taliban insurgency.   

"They are hired assassins. They are enemies of Pakistan. They are enemies of Islam," he told reporters.    

While many Pakistanis object to the violence, they are also frustrated with the government''s inability to stabilise the nuclear power.

Militants have become increasingly brazen in their bid to topple the government and impose their brand of Islam, including public floggings and executions for anyone who disobeys them.  

The Karachi carnage illustrated their reach is growing, from bastions on the Afghan border to cities, including an attack on a mosque near the headquarters of the powerful military. 

Karachi's streets were nearly empty on Friday. The stock exchange,, which normally operates on the first day of the year, was closed.

Police have arrested 18 people since riots triggered by the bombing destroyed hundreds of shops, costing Pakistan''s biggest city an estimated 30 billion rupees ($356 million) in damages.

Residents wary 

Police and paramilitary forces carried out patrols. But residents were taking no chances.

"We are already losing business and can't take the risk of going out today and opening our shops," said Saleem Ahmed, who sells electronics at one of the city''s markets.

"If something happens or anyone comes and damages, say, one refrigerator or deep freezer, I will lose more money than what I would have earned the whole day, so I better stay home."

While investors in Pakistan have got used to almost daily attacks in the northwest, violence in Karachi has a much more direct impact on financial markets and investor sentiment.

Analysts fear further attacks here could raise doubts about the prospects of recovery for Pakistan''s economy, now in virtual recession as gross domestic product growth in the 200809 fiscal year of 2 percent is about the same as population growth.

The United States, frustrated by what it says are inadequate efforts by Pakistan to crush militants who cross the border to attack Western forces in Afghanistan, has stepped up U.S. drone aircraft attacks on suspected militants in Pakistan.
 
While the strikes have killed high-profile al Qaeda and Taliban figures, they have also generated anti-American anger. A drone killed at least three militants travelling in a car in North Waziristan on Friday, security officials said.

"The bodies were burned beyond recognition. We are trying to determine their identity," said one security official.                                            On Thursday night, a drone missile killed at least two fighters in the same area.

But militants show no signs of caving in. A bomb planted by the Taliban exploded near a vehicle carrying civilians in Bajaur on Friday, regional government official Adalat Khan said. "It was a remote-controlled device that killed six innocent civilians, including a child," said the official.

Shortly after Interior Minister Malik spoke, a local television station reported that authorities had discovered 41 bombs near Pakistan''s second largest city Lahore.