Nation pays tribute to slain Hamas leader

The country on Friday observed a day of mourning as Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was buried in Qatar after his assassination in Tehran, an attack blamed on Israel that has heightened regional tensions as the Gaza war dragged on. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, members of the federal cabinet and the parliamentarians on Friday offered the funeral prayer in absentia of Ismail Haniyeh. "It will risk the annihilation of world's peace and development," the prime minister warned. The prime minister, who earlier also highlighted the issue in the cabinet meeting, said the whole Muslim world including the Pakistani nation was grieved over Ismail Haniyeh's killing. Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) also condemned the high-profile murder of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.