Briton's death probed in Pakistan

Teacher Alan Cox carried a picture of himself on his website

Police in Pakistan are questioning more than 12 people over the shooting dead of a British school teacher in his home in the central town of Multan.

Secondary school teacher Allan Cox, 60, was shot and attacked with a sharp weapon as he sat alone in the house where he taught, local police said.

District police chief Hamid Mukhtar Gondal said one student reported three gunmen running away after the attack.

Islamic militants are not believed to have been behind the shooting, he said.

The fact that Mr Cox had been shot four times and attacked with a knife or a dagger made the killing different from "traditional acts of terrorism", Chief Gondal added.

"While we are still probing the possibility of a terrorist motive or attempted burglary, we have also to look for information about the victim's personal life," he said.

'Well-liked'

A number of students, who were sitting on the roof of the house at the time of the attack on Wednesday, rushed to Mr Cox's room after hearing gunfire.

A total of 10 students were questioned about the death.

A Foreign Office spokesman said British consular officials were liaising with the Pakistan authorities over the death.

Mr Cox, who usually lived at his home in Longsight, Manchester, from May to mid-August every year, had spent the rest of his year working in Pakistan since 1997.

On his website describing his work as a teacher in Multan, he said he had travelled to Pakistan to teach students English after visiting the country as a tourist.

The fluent Urdu speaker wrote on the site: "When I realised the strange position that the English language has here I began to think of coming here and teaching English."

He added: "I met many people wherever I went, but somehow the people I met in Multan kept in touch - the people I had met in other cities seemed to disappear.

Nicholas Barton, a friend of Mr Cox during his undergraduate days, described him as a "small, pleasant man" who was well-liked.

"I am very shocked to hear such a good man has been murdered.

"He wanted to do something with his life...for people who were less fortunate than he was," he added.

Risks

Britons travelling to Pakistan are warned by the Foreign Office that a serious threat from terrorism exists throughout the country.

There is a risk of indiscriminate attacks and from sectarian violence and there is also a serious threat from criminal violence, according to the current travel advice.