DATE=7/16/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=PAK BLAST (L)
NUMBER=2-264457
BYLINE=SCOTT ANGER
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

//Editors - Change casualty figures in the intro as 
warranted//

INTRO:  A powerful bomb has ripped through a crowded 
passenger train in the southern Pakistani city of 
Hyderabad, killing at least nine people and injuring 
dozens more.  As correspondent Scott Anger reports 
from Islamabad, Sunday's blast is the most recent in a 
number of unexplained explosions, which have occurred 
in Pakistan in recent weeks.

TEXT:   Pakistan railway officials say the bomb 
exploded minutes after the crowded train pulled out of 
the station enroute to Karachi, about 160 kilometers 
south of Hyderabad.  Witnesses describe hearing a 
large bang, which sent people scrambling as smoke 
quickly filled the train.  Army troops and rescue 
workers quickly cordoned off the area.  Several 
passengers died at the scene.  Most of the injured 
have been taken to area hospitals.

No one has claimed responsibility for the blast and 
police say no arrests have been made. 

The source of the bombing is not clear, but southern 
Pakistan - in particular Karachi - has suffered from 
ethnic and religiously motivated violence over the 
last decade.  Much of the violence has come from 
activists of the Muttahida Qami Movement - or M-Q-M - 
a party that represents immigrants and their 
descendants from India who settled in urban areas of  
Sindh province after Pakistan's creation in 1947.

Sunday's blast comes a day after Farooq Sattar, a top 
M-Q-M leader, was sentenced to 14 years in jail after 
being convicted of corruption in a special anti-
corruption court.  He has also been barred from 
holding public office for 21 years.  The conviction is 
part of the country's crackdown by the military 
government on corrupt officials and politicians.  

Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister who was ousted 
in a bloodless military coup last October, is himself 
facing a number of corruption charges as part of the 
government crackdown.

Dozens of people have been killed in a series of 
explosions throughout Pakistan in the past year.  All 
of the explosions have occurred in public places and 
authorities say the aim has been to create panic and 
chaos in the country.  Pakistani officials routinely 
blame the blasts on intelligence agents from 
neighboring India.  Both countries routinely accuse 
each other of sabotage.  India and Pakistan, who have 
fought three wars since 1947, each deny the 
allegations.   (SIGNED)

NEB/SA/PLM



16-Jul-2000 03:31 AM EDT (16-Jul-2000 0731 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.