ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A ruling party minister in Pakistan's violence-plagued city of Karachi resigned Sunday, charging that the city's largest political party was behind the bloodshed, allegations that could spark more trouble.
Holding a copy of the Qur'an, the Muslim holy book, Zulfikar Mirza accused the powerful Muttahida Qaumi Movement of responsibility for kidnapping, extortion and violence that has killed more than 400 people since July. He also accused the party of killing journalist Wali Khan Babar this year.
"I am saying it openly that the MQM killed him," he told a news conference televised live around the country.
The MQM was not available for comment about the unusually blunt accusations.
The MQM -- and other political parties, including the one that Mirza used to belong to -- have denied any links to the violence. There was no immediate reaction on the streets of the city of 18 million people, Pakistan's largest.
The city, Pakistan's economic hub, has long been plagued by ethnic and political bloodshed, but the current surge has been particularly prolonged.
Independent analysts say the MQM is involved in a turf war with another political force in the city, the Awami National Party, and the Pakistan Peoples Party, of which Mirza was a member. Killers linked to the parties are behind the violence, they say.
The MQM represents the Urdu-speaking population, while the ANP is supported by Pashtuns, who have arrived in the city in great numbers over the last 10 years, challenging the dominance of the MQM. Many of the victims have been targeted because of their ethnic background.
Mirza, who was the senior minister for the PPP in the city, said he was resigning because of differences with Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who is trying to negotiate an end the violence. The bloodshed in Karachi threatens the nation's stability, because the parties are in the ruling coalition government. The violence is a major distraction from the country's battle against militants.
