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Pakistan Muslim Leader Calls for Jihad Against US

Posted on: Saturday, 21 January 2006, 15:00 CST

Text of report by Akhtar Amin headlined: "ARD and MMA join in protest against US airstrike" by Pakistani newspaper Daily Times website on 21 January

Peshawar: The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy [ARD] joined Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) on Friday [20 January] to condemn the US airstrike that led to 18 casualties in the Bajaur Agency.

They also called on the North-West Frontier Province [NWFP] government to close down the US Consulate in Peshawar.

"Get ready for jihad against the Americans," MMA leader Hakim Abdul Waheed called on the angry protestors. "Jihad is only way to defeat the America."

"We are with the mujahideen. Waziristan will become a graveyard for the Americans. We support Usamah and Al-Zawahiri" read the placards held by many protestors who later put on fire the effigies of US President George Bush and his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf.

"Our struggle will continue till the removal of the Musharraf government," the MMA leaders vowed and demanded the "immediate resignation" of Musharraf as the army chief saying "he has completely failed to defend country's borders and sovereignty." The leaders of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians, Awami National Party and Pakistan Muslim League (N) [Nawaz Group] were also present on the occasion.

The crowd was shouting slogans against Musharraf, Bush, Shaykh Rashid Ahmad and Engineer Amir Muqam and praised Usamah Bin-Ladin and Taleban supreme leader Mullah Muhammad Omar. To calls for Jihad against America, the crowd cried out: "Yes".

MMA leaders Hakeem Abdul Waheed and MNAs [Members of National Assembly] Shabir Ahmad and Sabir Hussain Awan announced their "complete support" for the two top al-Qaeda leaders - Usamah Bin- Ladin and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The leaders of all political parties signed a memorandum to be handed over to the US Consulate.

Meanwhile in Wana thousands of tribesmen also took to the streets to condemn the US airstrike. "Pull out the Pakistani troops if they cannot defend the tribal people against American aggression," speakers said. "We can defend ourselves better than the army."

They said, "F-16 and Mirage planes are meant to protect the Punjab alone. Why was the nuclear bomb developed when it can't be used against foreign aggression?"

Militant Maulana Abdul Aziz also addressed the crowd saying the peace deal would be "in danger" if the government failed to compensate the tribesmen affected by military operations in South Waziristan.

"The longer the delay takes place the more the peace agreement would be close to collapse," Aziz warned.

Meanwhile the Peshawar High Court Bar Association's (PHCBA) protest rally was blocked from presenting a memorandum to the NWFP Governor by the police.

The PHCBA and districts bars observed a black day on Pakistan Bar Council's [PBC's] call.

Mohammad Kamran adds from Islamabad: Bar associations throughout the country observed a protest day on Friday against the recent US air attack on Bajaur Agency and demanded the revocation of the government's pro-American policies. The leaders of the PBC and the Supreme Court Bar held a protest march from the Supreme Court building to the Parliament House under the Pakistan Bar Council banner and raised slogans against President Pervez Musharraf and the US.

They accused the government of mortgaging Pakistan's sovereignty into American hands. Protesting lawyers dubbed the ongoing Pak- American campaign against terrorism a farce and feared that so- called alliance with the US could damage Pakistan's integrity and sovereignty.

Vice Chairman Pakistan Bar Council Hafiz Abdul Rehman Ansari, President Supreme Court Bar Association Justice Qayyum Malik, Dr Babar Awan, Muhammad Ikram Chaudhry, Malik Rab Nawaz Noon and other prominent lawyers attended the demonstration.

"The legal community has a track record of waging a war against any attack on the country," said Mr Ansari in his address to the participants.

Source: BBC Monitoring South Asia

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