Group: 10,000 dissidents detained in Eritrea

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Eritrea's government has jailed about 10,000 dissidents without charge or trial over the years, a rights group said in report Thursday, describing the Horn of Africa nation as one of the world's most repressive states.

The new report by Amnesty International said those held in detention include suspected critics of the government, politicians, journalists, and "anyone who refuses to comply with the repressive system."

In a statement Thursday, Eritea's governmnet called the report "unsubstantiated" and a "political assault" on the country.

Among those behind bars are 187 people detained since January, when a group of more than 100 soldiers stormed the Ministry of Information and demanded the release of all political prisoners. Some Western diplomats and observers said at the time that this event was an attempted coup against President Isaias Afewerki, who led the country to independence from Ethiopia in 1991. He has been president since 1993.

According to Amnesty International, Eritrea has since become "one of the most repressive, secretive and inaccessible countries in the world."

Increasingly isolated, Eritrea is under sanctions imposed by the African Union and the United Nations. In late 2011 the U.N. Security Council expanded an arms embargo against Afewerki's regime. The country is accused of supporting al-Qaida-linked Islamist militants in Somalia.

Neighboring Ethiopia has stepped up its criticism of the regime, which it sees as a negative force in the region. In March 2012 Ethiopian troops moved deep into Eritrean territories to destroy military camps that the government said the camps were used to train "subversive groups" that routinely attack Ethiopia.

"There are calls by some corners to ease sanctions imposed on Eritrea. We reject this," Dina Mufti, a spokesperson for Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Thursday."

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Tuareg leaders announce new group in northern Mali

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A new group of Tuareg leaders in northern Mali says it wants to hold negotiations with the Malian government.

A statement from Tuareg leaders in the Kidal region announced the launch of the High Council for the Azawad.

Azawad is the name separatist Tuareg rebels use to describe their homeland in northern Mali.

While the group says it is a new association, it is believed to be made up of members from the NMLA, or National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad. That group has formally backed away from its goal of creating an independent state.

However, it has opposed the presence of the Malian military in Kidal, accusing Malian soldiers of carrying out human rights abuses against the local population.

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Group: Sudan army supporting fugitive warlord Kony

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — The fugitive African warlord Joseph Kony recently found safe haven in territory controlled by Sudan, a watchdog group said Friday, accusing the Sudanese military of offering aid to commanders of the Lord's Resistance Army.

The U.S.-based group Resolve said in a new report that Kony recently directed killings from an enclave protected by the Sudanese military. Until early this year, according to the report, Kony and some of his commanders were operating in Kafia Kingi, a disputed area along the Sudan-South Sudan border where African Union troops tasked with catching Kony don't have access.

"The enclave is currently controlled by Sudan, and numerous eyewitness reports indicate that elements of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in Kafia Kingi have actively sheltered senior LRA commanders there and provided them with limited material support," the report said. "According to LRA defectors and other sources, LRA leader Joseph Kony himself first traveled to the Kafia Kingi enclave in 2010. He returned to Kafia Kingi in 2011 and was present there throughout parts of 2012."

In a series of makeshift camps near a Sudanese army barracks, Kony "continued to direct LRA attacks against civilians in neighboring countries and issue new orders for LRA fighters."

The Ugandan military — with support from U.S. military advisers — is the driving force behind the hunt for Kony. Ugandan army spokesman Col. Felix Kulayigye said the report vindicates Uganda's contention that the LRA is a beneficiary of Sudanese support. Ugandan army officials said late last year they believed Kony was hiding in Sudan-controlled territory, although now they believe he has moved elsewhere.

"We always knew Kony was hiding in Kafia Kingi," he said. "The way forward is that no country should be hiding a wanted criminal."

Kony watchdog groups are concerned that Kony can retreat to Kafia Kingi whenever his pursuers get close. Resolve said it has satellite imagery of the now-abandoned camp where Kony was reportedly seen in late 2012. The warlord is no longer believed to be hiding there, the report noted, saying he may have crossed to Central African Republic.

Sudan has consistently denied charges it supports Kony, a warlord wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The United States government is evaluating the report that the LRA is operating in the Kafia Kingi region, said State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell Friday.

"The U.S. and the international community as a whole would take very seriously any credible evidence of support or safe haven being provided to the LRA," said Ventrell, citing a December statement at the U.N. expressing concern about the LRA's possible presence in Kafia Kingi.

"We continue to discuss our concerns about the whereabouts of Joseph Kony with all governments in the region, including with the government of Sudan, and we have encouraged Sudan to cooperate with regional efforts to counter the LRA," Ventrell added. "We're in a position now where two of the top five commanders are gone, the number of people killed by the LRA has gone down by 66 percent, and defections continue. So our pressure on the LRA continues."

Kony's LRA, which originated in Uganda in the 1980s as a popular tribal uprising against the government, has become notorious for recruiting children as fighters and forcing girls to be sex slaves. Military pressure forced the LRA out of Uganda in 2005, and the rebels scattered across parts of central Africa. LRA fighters are now believed to be operating mainly in the jungles of Congo and Central African Republic.

Ugandan Brig. Dick Olum, the top commander of African forces hunting for Kony, recently said he believed Kony had crossed to Central African Republic, where last month rebels deposed a president and expressed hostility toward foreign troops operating in the country. The lack of cooperation from the new government there forced the African Union to suspend military operations against Kony, who over the years has taken advantage of porous borders and weak governments to regroup.

The LRA is vastly diminished from previous years, and its forces now don't exceed 500, according Brig. Olum. Many of Kony's fighters have defected in the past year, and some of his top lieutenants have been captured or killed in combat. Last year an LRA commander believed to be Kony's military strategist was seized by Ugandan troops.

Sudan's support for Kony threatens progress made against the LRA, said the new report by Resolve.

"Unless addressed, it will also enable LRA leaders to outlast current counter-LRA operations," the report said. "Though international diplomats and military officials working to stop LRA attacks privately acknowledge recent LRA movement in Kafia Kingi, they have not adopted realistic strategies to prevent further support from Sudan to Kony's forces."

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Nigeria sets up Islamic extremist amnesty group

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria formed a panel that will create an amnesty program for Islamic extremists to try to quell a bloody guerrilla campaign of bombings and shootings that's killed hundreds of people across its north, the government said Wednesday.

The 26-person panel, created by President Goodluck Jonathan, has a 60-day deadline to come up with an offer for militants belonging to the Islamic extremist network Boko Haram and other groups now fighting against government forces and killing civilians with apparent impunity. A similar program in 2009 worked to halt the majority of attacks by militants in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta, though those fighting in the north have in the past rejected the idea of overtures from the government.

Problems with the committee, however, immediately became apparent after it was announced. At least one member said he hadn't been consulted before his name was released, and the list of panelists included no member of any armed insurgent group.

The presidential committee, including police and military officials, as well as politicians and human rights activists, would "constructively engage key members of Boko Haram and define a comprehensive and workable framework for resolving the crisis of insecurity in the country," according to a statement issued by presidential spokesman Reuben Abati. The committee also would offer a "comprehensive victims' support program," though the statement offered no further details about it.

The presidency said it hoped disarming Islamic extremists would happen within two months' time, an ambitious goal that likely will be extremely difficult. The command-and-control structure of the main extremist network Boko Haram remains unclear. It also has sparked several splinter groups, including those wanting to increasingly target Western interests and who have connections to other al-Qaida-linked groups.

Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, also has repeatedly said he would refuse any amnesty offer. Shekau's past demands included the release of all the sect's imprisoned members and instituting Shariah law across all of Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people.

The idea of an amnesty, discussed in some corners by analysts, came to a head in March when the Sultan of Sokoto, one of the country's top Muslim leaders, called for it. While the sultan did not speak in specifics, others have suggested offering an amnesty deal in line with one previously given to militants in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta in 2009. That deal offered cash payments and job training to fighters in return for them giving up their weapons and halting attacks on foreign oil companies.

The 2009 amnesty deal, however, did not stop all attacks in the delta, nor did it halt the rapidly growing theft of crude oil from pipelines there that has caused serious environmental damage. The militants in the nation's largely Christian south also attacked the commodity that fills the nation's coffers while typically not killing civilians. Those extremists fighting in the nation's Muslim north have shown no hesitation to kill civilians and security forces alike, nor does their fighting affect oil production.

Until Wednesday, the sultan was the highest-ranking official so far to publicly endorse such a plan for Islamic extremists. However, his name was absent from the list of amnesty panel members. Included on the list was Datti Ahmed, a Kano physician who heads a prominent Muslim group, the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria. However, Ahmed last year publicly backed away from the suggestion that he work as a mediator after the idea leaked out and local newspapers began to publish stories about him.

Ahmed also is a controversial figure in the north, as he sparked a boycott of polio vaccines in 2003 in Nigeria after saying the vaccines were "corrupted and tainted by evildoers from America and their Western allies." That led to hundreds of new infections in children in Nigeria's north, where the disease is still active today, as well as a global polio outbreak that reached as far as Indonesia.

Ahmed did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Another named panelist, Shehu Sani of the Kaduna-based Civil Rights Congress, told The Associated Press that Nigeria's government never consulted with him before publicly announcing his name. Sani said he would only serve as a member if Islamic extremists told him through an intermediary that they would consider an amnesty deal and would serve on the panel as well.

"In the absence of that, we would simply be doing something hoping it would work," Sani said. "And hope is not a strategy."

The Islamic insurgency in Nigeria grew out of a 2009 riot led by Boko Haram members in Maiduguri that ended in a military and police crackdown that killed some 700 people. The group's leader died in police custody in an apparent execution. From 2010 on, Islamic extremists have engaged in hit-and-run shootings and suicide bombings, attacks that have killed at least 1,548 people, according to an AP count.

Westerners in Nigeria have been targeted as well, including an August 2011 suicide bombing at the United Nations headquarters in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, that killed 25 and wounded more than 100 others. A group of men who said they belong to Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of seven French tourists from northern Cameroon late February — a first for the group. Meanwhile, a Boko Haram splinter group known as Ansaru has claimed the recent kidnappings and killings in northern Nigeria of seven foreigners — a British citizen, a Greek, an Italian, two Lebanese and two people believed to be Syrian — all employees of a Lebanese construction company called Setraco.

Despite the deployment of more soldiers and police to northern Nigeria, the nation's weak central government has been unable to stop the killings. Meanwhile, human rights groups and local citizens blame both Boko Haram and security forces for committing violent atrocities against the local civilian population, fueling rage in the region.

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Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

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Radical Islamic group rejects Nigeria peace effort

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The leader of the Islamic extremist network Boko Haram apparently has refused to take part in any possible amnesty deal offered by Nigeria's government to stop the guerrilla campaign of bombings and shootings now plaguing the country.

An audio recording obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday features a man who sounds like Abubakar Shekau strongly objecting to any possible deal with Nigerian officials. The comments come after Nigeria's government has floated the idea of possibly setting up a government committee to examine offering some sort of deal to stop the violence that's killed hundreds over the last year.

The recording, first passed by intermediaries of Boko Haram to journalists in northern Nigeria, features the man talking about the possibility of an amnesty deal, first discussed last week. The man in the recording, speaking in the Hausa language of Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north, calls the amnesty deal "surprising."

"We are the one to grant them pardon. Have you forgotten their atrocities against us?" he says.

Boko Haram, which sends messages through spokesmen and communiques at times of its choosing, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The man in the recording later threatens the lives of anyone claiming to be a representative of Boko Haram saying the network wants to accept a peace deal. A self-proclaimed Boko Haram leader said he could offer a ceasefire in northeast Nigeria on behalf of the group in January, though the violence continued unstopped.

The idea of an amnesty, discussed in some corners by analysts, came to a head in March when the Sultan of Sokoto, one of the country's top Muslim leaders, called for it. While the sultan did not speak in specifics, others have suggested offering an amnesty deal in lines with one previously given to militants in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta in 2009. That deal offered cash payments and job training to fighters in return for them giving up their weapons and halting attacks on foreign oil companies. The sultan is the highest ranking official so far to publicly endorse such a plan for Islamic extremists, many of whom fight as part of Boko Haram and its splinter groups.

The 2009 amnesty deal, however, did not stop attacks in the delta, nor halt the rapidly growing theft of crude oil from pipelines there that has caused serious environmental damage. The militants there also attacked the commodity that fills the nation's coffers while typically not killing civilians. Meanwhile, Boko Haram is blamed for killing at least 792 people last year alone, according to an AP count, and its attacks occur hundreds of miles away from the nearest oil well. So far this year, violence by Islamic extremists has killed at least 173 people, according to an AP count.

No Nigerian government officials have publicly said the government is creating a committee to study a possible amnesty deal for Islamic extremists, giving wiggle room to the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan for a possible denial later in case the idea is dropped. Jonathan, a Christian from the oil delta, has faced increasing public criticism for being unable to stop the killings.

Boko Haram says it is fighting to free its imprisoned members and install an Islamic government over Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people. The group, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege," has conducted its guerrilla fight across Nigeria's north over the last three years. The group's command-and-control structure remains unclear, though it appears to have sparked several splinter groups.

A group of men who said they belong to Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of seven French tourists from northern Cameroon late February — a first for the group. Meanwhile, a Boko Haram splinter group known as Ansaru has claimed the recent kidnappings and killings in northern Nigeria of seven foreigners — a British citizen, a Greek, an Italian, three Lebanese and one Filipino — all employees of a Lebanese construction company called Setraco.

Despite the deployment of more soldiers and police to northern Nigeria, the nation's weak central government has been unable to stop the killings. Meanwhile, human rights groups and local citizens blame both Boko Haram and security forces for committing violent atrocities against the local civilian population, fueling rage in the region.

Early Thursday morning, suspected Islamic extremists attacked a police station in Babangida, a small town in Yobe state, Yobe state police commissioner Rufai Sunusi said. Sunusi said four of his officers died in the attack, while two others were wounded. Police killed five of the gunmen, he said.

After the attack, Yobe state's government announced a dusk-to-dawn curfew for its citizens.

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Associated Press writers Bashir Adigun in Abuja, Nigeria, and Mohammed Abubakar in Damaturu, Nigeria, contributed to this report.

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Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP .

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Rebel group: Congo warlord wanted control of M23

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A spokesman for a Congolese rebel group said Thursday that rebel fighters in the M23 group were trying to kill warlord Bosco Ntaganda, who fled Congo and turned himself in to a U.S. Embassy last week before being transferred to the International Criminal Court.

Rene Abandi said Ntaganda tried to "influence the chain of command" but went too far when he challenged M23 military chief Sultani Makenga.

Fierce clashes between rival factions of M23 earlier this month left Makenga with the upper hand and triggered the chain of events that forced Ntaganda to give up his freedom after nearly seven years as a fugitive warlord wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

On March 18, days after losing a fight with an M23 faction loyal to Makenga, Ntaganda showed up the U.S. Embassy in Rwanda and asked to be transferred to the ICC. This week he made his first court appearance at The Hague.

"What shocked Gen. Makenga was this fight which was the stupidity of Ntaganda," Abandi said from the rebel stronghold of Bunagana in eastern Congo. "After that our goal was just to neutralize him because he was causing problems. He tried to influence the movement from outside."

It remains unclear how Ntaganda ended up in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, or what motivated him to surrender. Abandi said they believe he sneaked into Rwanda through a jungle crossing that is not heavily policed by Rwandan border officials.

"He passed through an area where there is no official border, near the Virunga National Park," Abandi said.

Ntaganda, the boss of a rebel group that was M23's precursor, had lived a relatively free life in the eastern Congolese town of Goma, allegedly occupying a villa there and even playing tennis. An ethnic Tutsi born in Rwanda, he was first indicted in 2006 by the ICC for allegedly recruiting child soldiers during a 2002-03 conflict in Congo's eastern Ituri province. A second arrest warrant issued last July accused him of crimes including murder, rape, sexual slavery and pillaging.

For M23, according to Abandi, Ntaganda's exit from the Congo left the group stronger even as it dimmed hopes for a peace process that had been under way in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, since December. Those talks are now on hold, with both the Congolese and M23 delegations saying they are holding consultations.

M23 had split at the end of February following a dispute among the leaders of the movement when Makenga dismissed the political head of the movement, Jean-Marie Runiga. Both men then formed their own factions, which have been fighting since.

The fight between M23 factions divided the group's peace delegation and led to the ouster of its leader, Francois Rucogoza, who is now afraid to return home, according to Chrispus Kiyonga, the talks' Ugandan mediator.

M23 is made up of hundreds of soldiers who deserted the Congolese army last April. The rebels accuse Congo's government of failing to honor the terms of a 2009 peace deal that incorporated them into the national army. In turn, the government accuses M23 of violating that agreement by taking up arms instead of talking. Even as human-rights groups charge M23 with numerous human-rights violations in eastern Congo, regional leaders have urged the Congolese government to listen to the "legitimate grievances" of M23.

According to Abandi, Ntaganda's side spread rumors that Makenga was secretly doing business with the government in Kinshasa even as a delegation from M23 negotiated peace with the Congolese government in neighboring Uganda. When those claims failed to sow discord among the fighters, he said, Ntaganda then tried to challenge Makenga militarily.

"Gen. Makenga won the fight," he said. "The morale of the troops is now high. They are very proud of their general."

There is no international arrest warrant out for Makenga, but he is under U.N. sanctions and rights groups say he has committed crimes similar to those attributed to Ntaganda.

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Mali extremist group says fighters, leader OK

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — One of the three extremist groups being driven back in northern Mali by French-led forces says its fighters and leader, Iyad Ag Ghali, are fine and determined to keep attacking.

In its statement published this week on Mauritanian website Sahara Media, Ansar Dine said: "Even if only sticks remain with us, we will fight you with them."

For 10 months, Ansar Dine ruled a large swathe of northern Mali. In January, France launched a military intervention and removed the group from the main cities in the north, including Kidal, where Ag Ghali was based.

The French have since killed Abou Zeid, a major commander of the local al-Qaida affiliate, raising questions about the whereabouts of other leaders, including Ag Ghali.

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Congo says agreement not likely with rebel group

GOMA, Congo (AP) — A peace agreement between the Congolese government and the M23 rebel group remains uncertain just days before a negotiation deadline expires, Congo's government spokesman said Monday as fighting continued in the country's troubled east.

The rebel group believed to be backed by neighboring Rwanda, overran the major, eastern city of Goma last November in a humiliating blow to both the Congolese army and the international peacekeepers stationed there, who stood by as the rebels marched in. The columns of fighters retreated weeks later under intense international pressure, warning they would retake the city if Congo failed to meet their demands.

M23 rebels and the government have been hashing out an agreement since December, and were supposed to sign an accord by Friday. All of that has been thrown into doubt following a split in the rebel movement two weeks ago, after a dispute between the commanders of M23.

"Everything needs to be finalized by March 15. That's the president's wish. But we don't know if we will be able to sign by then," government spokesman Lambert Mende told The Associated Press. "We need a counterpart — and it's difficult to identify one at the moment."

The movement's military leader, Gen. Sultani Makenga, dismissed the political head of the movement, Jean-Marie Runiga, in February. Both men then formed their own factions which have been fighting since. Runiga's faction is said to be allied with Gen. Bosco Ntaganda, who is nicknamed "The Terminator" and is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

On Monday, Makenga's faction attacked Runiga's in an attempt to regain positions lost following the split. Sustained fighting around the area of Rumangabo took place between 9 a.m. and noon, according to fighters on both sides.

"We are at war," said Col. Vianney Kazarama, spokesman for Makenga's faction.

Following the split within the rebel group, the Congolese army retook some of the hills near the Goma airport. Runiga's faction controls Kibumba, which is the next town to the north. Further north is the Rumangabo area and the nearby village of Rugari, which the two sides are now fighting to control. Makenga's base in Rutshuru is beyond that area.

"Since 9 a.m., we've been fighting Bosco's troops in Rugari, but we are now stopping our advance to allow troops who want to defect to our side to join us," said Maj. Fred Ngenzi, who is with Makenga's faction. Because of the fighting, he added: "I think Friday is a bit early to sign an agreement with the Congolese government."

Runiga's faction claims it is the only one entitled to negotiate with the Congolese government since the leader of the M23 delegation for negotiations, François Rucogoza, is still loyal to Runiga. Talks are ongoing in Kampala, the capital of neighboring Uganda.

Runiga's faction also accuses Congo's government of trying to sabotage negotiations by helping Makenga's faction in the fighting.

"We cannot accept this and stand idle. Makenga is a renegade," said Col. Seraphin Mirindi, spokesman for Runiga's faction. "We are in Kampala, but there is an unwillingness from Kinshasa to negotiate. At some point we will have to react."

The M23 rebellion began in April 2012, when hundreds of soldiers defected from the Congolese army. They belonged to a previous rebellion that was integrated in the army following a peace deal signed on March 23, 2009. The rebels claim that the deal was not respected by the Congolese government.

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Pakistan arrests ex-head of banned Sunni group

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Police say they have arrested the former chief of a banned Sunni extremist group in central Pakistan.

Senior police officer Ashfaq Gujar says Malik Ishaq was arrested in the central city of Rahim Yar Khan on Friday. It was not immediately clear on what charges he was arrested.

Ishaq is one of the founders of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group, which is accused of killing hundreds of minority Shiites Muslims.

He was also briefly detained last year, following attacks against Shiites in the country. His latest arrest came less than a week after a bombing at a market in the southwestern city of Quetta killed 89 Shiites.

Most victims of Saturday's bombing were Hazaras, a Shiite ethnic group that migrated to Pakistan from Afghanistan more than a century ago.

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Media group: Zimbabwe radio receiver ban illegal

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Media freedom campaigners say police in Zimbabwe are breaking the law by seizing and banning small radio receivers that can tune in to stations not linked to the state broadcasting monopoly controlled by President Robert Mugabe's party.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa said Friday no regulations outlaw the hand-cranked, solar powered radios that democracy and election support groups plan to use ahead of a referendum on a new constitution next month and crucial elections later in the year.

Police insist the radios and cheap Chinese 3G smartphones are being supplied by "subversive organizations" and pose a security threat surrounding the polling.

MISA said any broadcast receiver only requires a routine listeners' license. The police action was a grave threat to active and informed participation in upcoming voting, it said.

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Pakistan arrests former head of banned Sunni group

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Authorities on Friday arrested the former head of a banned Sunni extremist group from a town in central Pakistan, less than a week after the organization claimed responsibility for a market bombing that killed 89 Shiites.

Senior police officer Ashfaq Gujar said Malik Ishaq was arrested on government orders in the central city of Rahim Yar Khan. It was not immediately clear on what charges he was arrested, although Gujar said Ishaq had been sent to a high-security jail for investigation.

Ishaq and his associates have been investigated in the past, and Ishaq himself was imprisoned for 14 years on charges, never proven, of killing Shiite Muslims. He was released in July 2011.

Ishaq is one of the founders of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a group accused of killing hundreds of Shiites, who constitute some 20 percent of the population in the majority Sunni country. Most of the two groups live together peacefully, though tensions have existed for decades.

Ishaq was briefly detained last year following attacks against Shiites. His latest arrest came less than a week after a bombing at a market in the southwestern city of Quetta killed 89 Shiites.

Most victims of Saturday's bombing were Hazaras, a Shiite ethnic group that migrated to Pakistan from Afghanistan more than a century ago.

Angered over the attack, thousands of Shiites rallied in Quetta and other major cities of Pakistan, refusing to bury the victims for three days in protest and forcing authorities to launch a crackdown against Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

On Friday, Mahdi Hasan, a leader of Hazara Democratic Party, welcomed Ishaq's arrest, but demanded the arrest of all others involved in the attacks.

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Associated Press Writer Abdul Sattar contributed to this report from Quetta.

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