Police stepped up security patrols on Monday while Islamic hard-liners called for a nationwide strike after a leading pro-Taliban cleric was gunned down, touching off massive rioting by his followers. The situation was tensed but there was no immediate outbreak of violence following a day of unrest that saw police fire tear gas and warning shots to disperse rioters who set fire to banks, shops, a police station and a KFC fast-food restaurant. Police formed a special task force to investigate the slaying of Nazamuddin Shamzai, a cleric in his 70s who had been a strong supporter of the former Taliban regime in neighbouring Afghanistan and had met al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. The cleric, from the Sunni branch of Islam, had a large following in Pakistan. The United Action Forum, a coalition of six fundamentalist parties, called for a "complete nationwide strike" on Friday to protest his slaying and to pressure police to arrest the attackers. "We will not sit silent. We will protest against the brutal murder of a great religious personality," Maulana Fazur Rahman, a senior leader of the forum, told reporters as he visited Shamzai's home to express condolences. "We will be forced to take other steps if the killers of Nizamuddin Shamzai are not arrested," Maulana said, without elaborating.
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