by Masroor Gilani
ISLAMABAD, Aug 20 (AFP) - Thousands of Islamists demonstrated across Pakistan after Friday prayers against the death of a cleric in detention over suspected links to Al Qaeda and against raids on seminaries.
A leading human rights group too voiced concern at the death of Qari Noor Mohammad, who died in police custody on Wednesday in the industrial city of Faisalabad.
Mohammad, a religious teacher, died in jail, a week after he was arrested with another cleric in the ongoing crackdown against the Al-Qaeda network.
Police said Mohammad died of a heart attack, but religious leaders in Faisalabad claimed he was tortured.
"Reports that his (Mohammad's) body showed marks of torture is a matter of immense concern," a Human Rights Commission statement said.
Hundreds took part in a protest rally outside the capital's Red mosque.
In the eastern city of Lahore prayer leaders condemned the killing in police custody during rallies after Friday prayers.
"All Muslims and Pakistanis condemn the government for torturing and killing Mohammad in police custody," Maulana Mohibul Nabi told protestors at Madina Mosque in Lahore.
"Government should immediately stop raids at religious seminaries," he said.
Earlier this week police raided a mosque and a seminary in Islamabad to arrest six clerics wanted for issuing a religious edict against the Pakistan army's offensive against Al-Qaeda linked militants in remote South Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border.
The independent human rights monitor said it was alarmed about the "lack of transparency and failure to follow the rule of law in ongoing actions against so-called militants."
Islamist MP Maulana Naseeb Shah told protestors at Red Mosque that the raids at seminaries were unjustified and should cease immediately.
"We condemn the government for conducting raids on religious institutions and arrests of their leaders," he said.
Rallies were also held in the southern port city of Karachi and several other cities.
Pakistani security agencies have arrested more than 60 Al-Qaeda suspects since mid-July, including Naeem Noor Khan, a Pakistani communications expert, and Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a suspect in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in East Africa.
Their capture yielded information on Al-Qaeda and led to the discovery of fresh plans to launch attacks in Britain, Pakistan and the United States ahead of US presidential elections in November, according to intelligence officials.
The arrests of the militants and the failure to give them access to lawyers has drawn severe criticism from both Islamists and human rights activists.
"While the need to eradicate militancy is immense, the present crude manner of dealing with the problem can bring only negative results," the human rights commission said.
"The failure to inform the public about whom the operations in various parts of the country are directed towards, or what they are intended to achieve, can only cast doubts and suspicions over the entire campaign and contribute to the expanding public sentiment against the anti-militancy drive."