MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan controlled Kashmir, July 30 (AFP) - People staged demonstrations while clerics blamed the Pakistani government Friday for failing to save two Pakistani hostages killed by Iraqi militants.
The national flag of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir flew at half mast as the government declared Friday as a day of mourning.
Pakistani Kashmir's premier Sardar Sikandar Hayat condemned the "gruesome killing" of the two in a statement, saying the act had weakened the cause of the Iraqi people.
"We share the pain and grief of the bereaved families and pray for the deliverance of the departed souls," Hayat said, as he announced a donation of 100,000 rupees (1,700 US dollars) for each family.
Religious leaders held the Pakistani government responsible for the murder of hostages.
"We condemn the tragic incident. Islam does not allow such things.... But it all has happened due to the policies of President General (Pervez) Musharraf," said Qari Abdul Malik, chief patron of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam in Pakistani Kashmir.
In the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore some 800 people belonging to the Islamist alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) rallied to protest the killings.
The Arabic television station Al-Jazeera broke the news late Wednesday that the two migrant workers, Sajid Naeem, 29, and Azad Hussein Khan, 49, were executed. Their captors demanded that Pakistan not to send troops to Iraq.
Pakistan's embassy in Baghdad confirmed the executions on Thursday.