Zardari woos Altaf, MQM withdraws ultimatum call

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement on Wednesday announced withdrawing its three-day ultimatum to the Pakistan People’s Party for implementing the Sindh Local Government Ordinance after a telephonic contact between President Asif Ali Zardari and MQM chief Altaf Hussain, as workers of both parties were among 16 people killed in continued violence in Karachi.
President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday telephoned MQM chief Altaf Hussain, regretting that the issues agreed upon between the MQM and PPP could not be implemented due to his pressing engagements. Zardari said he had already directed the Sindh government to implement the agreed issues immediately. He assured Altaf that he would soon intervene to solve all issues through mutual understanding. Altaf thanked the president and then asked the MQM Coordination Committee to withdraw the three-day ultimatum.
But the easing of tension between the two coalition partners did not do much for peace in Karachi, where 16 people were gunned down and several vehicle set ablaze on Wednesday. Out of those killed, six were activists of the MQM while two belonged to the PPP. The number of killings in the last three days has risen to 39. Unidentified men opened fire on a shop situated in Sector-7B of Surjani Town and killed two people on the spot. The deceased were identified as Omer Shaikh and Lal Muhammad. Police said Omer was the president of PPP in the area while Lal Muhammad was his friend and a PPP activist.
Violence erupted in the area after the incident and two vehicles were set ablaze by protesters. Aerial firing was also reported from the area. In another incident, gunmen sprayed bullets on Zamida Hotel in Peetel Gali area of Golimar, injuring four. Two of the injured succumbed to their injuries on the way to hospital. They were identified as Zafar Hussain Alvi and Zahid Ali Zaidi. Police said Alvi was an MQM activist. Another person Mahar Ali was killed near Chamra Chowrangi area of Korangi Town, while another was killed in Dalmia. A worker of KMOC was killed in Bilal Colony area of Korangi. He was identified as Zaheer Abbas. Also, a Baloch youth was gunned down in the Mominabad police precincts. He was identified as Naeem Jan. The city’s main Jinnah Hospital received six dead bodies from other areas of the city, including Garden, Zaman Town, Kalri and Napier Road. The bodies were identified as Abdul Ghafoor, Sadique, Babar Shahzad, Nazeer, Nisar and Bilal. Three of them were said to be MQM activists.