Shia cleric, driver burned to death in Pakistan

A leading Shia Muslim cleric and his driver were burned to death in Pakistan when gunmen shot at their car, hitting the fuel tank and causing it to explode, police said Wednesday.

Two attackers on a motorbike sprayed bullets at the vehicle of 50-year-old cleric Fazal Hussain Alvi near the central industrial city of Faisalabad late Tuesday, senior police officer Mian Muhammad Idrees said.

The bodies were charred beyond recognition after the car went up in flames. Alvi's family identified him by his wooden leg, Idrees said.

He said it was a "targeted killing" but added that it was too early to tell whether it was a sectarian killing or the result of some personal rivalry.

Angry Shias tried to stage a protest after the attack on Alvi, who was known as an impassioned speaker, but were stopped by local authorities.

The Shia political party Tehrik-i-Jafaria quoted its chief Sajid Naqvi as calling it a sectarian killing. "I think Pakistan's rulers have failed to combat terrorism in this country," he said.

Police have been put on alert and security has been beefed up around Sunni and Shia mosques, a police official said on condition of anonymity.

The attack came a week after a suicide bomber killed 57 people, including the top leadership of a moderate Sunni Muslim party, during a gathering in Karachi last week to mark the Prophet Mohammad's birthday.