Senseless murder of Amjad Sabri violates fundamental freedom: US

The US has said that "senseless murder" of one of Pakistan's finest Sufi Qawwals Amjad Sabri in Karachi this week violates the fundamental freedoms of expression, religion and belief.

"We express our sympathies with the people of Pakistan as they mourn the senseless murder of a Qawwali singer Amjad Sabri. Such acts violate the fundamental freedoms of expression and religion and belief," State Department Spokesman John Kirby told reporters at his daily news conference yesterday.

"The arts have long been a forum for new ideas for fighting against intolerance. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and to the people of Pakistan," Kirby said.

Sabri, 45, one of Pakistan's finest Sufi Qawwals best known for his soul-stirring renditions of mystic poetry, was on Wednesday killed by Taliban militants who shot him in the head in a targeted terror attack in Karachi. Thousands of tearful mourners, including women and children, yesterday thronged the streets of Pakistan's largest city Karachi and sang the soul-stirring renditions of Sabri as they paid tributes to him.