Thousands of mourners attended the funeral yesterday of a Pakistani politician who was stabbed in London in September in a slaying that set off rioting in his hometown of Karachi.
Imran Farooq, who lived in self-imposed exile after fleeing a crackdown on his party in 1992, was killed outside his London home. No one claimed responsibility, and his wife, Shumaila Imran, has appealed for help to solve the case. Authorities in London say they are still investigating.
The body of the 50-year-old politician was flown home Saturday and his funeral was held at a public park in Karachi, in the south of Pakistan. TV footage showed a large crowd at the funeral.
Farooq was a prominent member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which is allied with President Asif Ali Zardari's government.
Meanwhile, the toll from a suicide bombing on a mosque packed with worshippers rose to 68 yesterday, as four others died in an attack nearby, ending a lull in violence in Pakistan's militant-riddled northwest.
In the country's deadliest attack in two months a mosque was reduced to blood-spattered rubble strewn with body parts after a suicide bomber detonated explosives as worshippers attended Friday prayers.
The blast, which occurred in the Darra Adem Khel region, was followed hours later by a grenade assault on a second mosque in the same area, which killed at least four people.
"Sixty-eight people are now confirmed dead in the mosque suicide bombing," top local administration official Shahidullah told AFP.