Pakistan leader calls army to quell violence in Karachi

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Friday declared a state of emergency and called out the army to quell violence that has killed more than 1,000 people in the port city of Karachi.

Sharif also announced the establishment of military courts in Karachi - the provincial capital of the southern Sindh province - to try those behind the violence. These courts will decide cases within days, not weeks and months, he said."The decision has been taken to protect lives of the people and is in the larger interest of the city and the country," he said.

Sharif last month dismissed the elected provincial government of Sindh in response to widespread political violence that has killed more than 1,000 people in Karachi this year and paralyzed economic activity.

The prime minister invoked Article 245 of the constitution, which allows the suspension of civil rights.

"The step has been taken because the terrorists were becoming more and more powerful," he said. "We want to get Karachi out of this hell."

Sharif had accused his former ally, the Muttahida Qami Movement, of most of the bloodletting in Karachi, including last month's killing of former Gov. Hakim Said.

The MQM, which changed its name to Muttahida Qami Movement from the Mohajir Qami Movement, is locked in a bloody conflict with a dissident faction called the MQM Haqiqi. Hundreds of people have died in recent months in tit-for-tat killings by the militants of the two factions. The party broke into two groups several years ago.

The MQM comprises Urdu speakers who migrated from India when the country gained independence from Britain in 1947, and their descendants.

The government has arrested 490 people for involvement in terrorist activities since the imposition of governor's rule, Sharif said.