ISLAMABAD, July 1: Deputy information secretary of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) Munir Ahmed Khan has asked other countries to put pressure on the government to take strict action against those responsible for the killing of PPP activist Munawwar Suharwardy.

In the letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn, Mr Khan has asked the ambassadors and high commissioners of various countries in Islamabad to take this matter on "humanitarian grounds and pressurize the Pakistan government to take serious action against the accused and announce inquiry commission immediately."

The letter says the murder of PPP activist Manawwar Suharwardy on June 17 has cast a spell of gloom over Karachi. "Munawar's assassination brings forward the motive for his murder. There are three possible scenarios that must be investigated if the truth is to be known," it says.

"First, Munawwar was murdered by Altaf Hussain's MQM militants, who saw him as a symbol of peaceful Karachi. It may be noted that Gen Musharraf has freed from prison the criminals and terrorists allied with the MQM involved in allegations of mass murders.

"This was done to keep the PPP out of power in Sindh. The result was that 650 police officers, who participated in the drive to bring peace to Karachi, have lost their lives since November 2002. Hundreds others were also murdered as was Karachi's other beloved son Abdullah Murad Baloch," the letter stated.

Despite the fact that Abdullah Murad was an elected member of Parliament, his family was illegally stopped from registering the murder complaint against the MQM militants, it added.

Second that Manawwar's murder was connected to Benazir Bhutto's return plans. Gen Musharraf must volunteer to put himself before questioning for Manawar's murder. The president was also quoted to have said this week while meeting with parliamentarians that Ms Bhutto "would never be allowed to return to power" because he considered her a security threat, the letter said.

In other words, he (Gen Musharraf) considers Ms Bhutto a threat to his military dictatorship, it added. "Third that those elements within the state apparatus who accompanied nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan to foreign countries murdered Munawar to send a message as to how far they could go to defend their farce that A.Q.Khan acted alone.