Prayers for Bin Laden in pictures

Supporters of the banned Islamic organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa shout anti-American slogans before holding a symbolic funeral prayer for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Karachi. The founder one of Pakistan's most violent Islamist militant groups has told Muslims to be heartened by the death of Osama bin Laden, as his "martyrdom" would not be in vain. Photo: Reuters
Supporters of the banned Islamic organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa shout anti-American slogans before holding a symbolic funeral prayer for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Karachi. The founder one of Pakistan's most violent Islamist militant groups has told Muslims to be heartened by the death of Osama bin Laden, as his "martyrdom" would not be in vain. Photo: Reuters
Supporters of Pakistan's religious party Jamatut Dawa offer funeral prayers for Osama bin Laden in Karachi, Pakistan. The founder one of Pakistan's most violent Islamist militant groups has told Muslims to be heartened by the death of Osama bin Laden, as his "martyrdom" would not be in vain. Photo: AP
A supporter of the banned Islamic organization Jamaat-ud-Dawa clears tears while taking part in a symbolic funeral prayer for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Karachi. The founder one of Pakistan's most violent Islamist militant groups has told Muslims to be heartened by the death of Osama bin Laden, as his "martyrdom" would not be in vain. Photo: Reuters
A supporter of the banned Islamic organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa weeps while taking part in a symbolic funeral prayer for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Karachi. The founder one of Pakistan's most violent Islamist militant groups has told Muslims to be heartened by the death of Osama bin Laden, as his "martyrdom" would not be in vain. Photo: Reuters
Supporters of the banned Islamic organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa weep as they take part in a funeral prayer for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Karachi. The founder one of Pakistan's most violent Islamist militant groups has told Muslims to be heartened by the death of Osama bin Laden, as his "martyrdom" would not be in vain. Photo: Reuters
Supporters of the banned Islamic organization Jamaat-ud-Dawa embrace each other after taking part in a funeral prayer for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Karachi. The founder one of Pakistan's most violent Islamist militant groups has told Muslims to be heartened by the death of Osama bin Laden, as his "martyrdom" would not be in vain. Photo: Reuters

Published May 3, 2011

Hundreds of people offered special prayers for Osama bin Laden in the populous southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Tuesday with organisers declaring the Al-Qaeda chief a martyr, police said. The event was called by Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a Pakistani charity on the US terror blacklist over its alleged links to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the outlawed Kashmiri militant group India blames for the 2008 Mumbai attacks. JuD organised the gathering to honour bin Laden after his dramatic death in a US commando raid in Abbottabad, near the capital Islamabad. Carrying party flags and chanting anti-US slogans, the participants gathered on a road in the city's eastern district of Gulshan-e-Iqbal and offered Muslim funeral prayers for bin Laden, witnesses said.

Local police officer Saeed Ahmed said around 1 000 people took part in the prayers, some of them weeping, according to witnesses. Police and paramilitary troops were deployed but the crowd dispersed peacefully.