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Pakistan's government offers amnesty to Islamic radicals
Pakistan's government says it will grant amnesty to possibly hundreds of detained members of banned radical and militant Islamic groups, provided they first sign a written pledge to have no further contact with their groups.
More than 2,000 Islamic radicals were detained in January following the banning by military ruler General Pervez Musharraf of five hardline groups, including two blamed by arch rival India for a bloody December attack on its parliament.
Authorities in Pakistan's four provinces were preparing lists of those who could be released on a written undertaking that they will sever links with their banned parties or groups.
Pakistan has long been grappling with sectarian violence between hardline groups from the rival Sunni and Shi'ite sects and been under pressure from India for policies it says support militant Islamic groups fighting New Delhi's rule in Kashmir.
The attack on the Indian parliament sparked the mobilisation of up to a million troops along the nuclear-armed neighbours' border, raising fears of full-scale war.
09/03/2002 00:20:50 | ABC Radio Australia News
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