PESHAWAR, Oct 17: Jamaat-i-Islami has decided to organize protest demonstrations here on Friday to protest against the US attacks on Afghanistan, and has asked President Pervez Musharraf to leave the office.

Speaking at a press conference here at the Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday, Amir JI NWFP, Prof Mohammad Ibrahim made it clear that overwhelming majority of people condemned the stand taken by the government and supported the religious parties regarding the current situation.

Prof Ibrahim asked Gen Pervez Musharraf to hold a referendum that how much people were with him on the issue of US attacks on Afghanistan, adding that the JI would prove its strength on Oct 19 in its provincial-level protest demonstrations which would be held at Soekarno Chowk and Khyber Bazaar. He said the procession would start from Jinnah Park and would march through Chowk Yadgar and Qissa Khawani Bazaar.

Prof Ibrahim condemned the stand taken by the US and Pakistan governments and declared it against the international law, adding that the US had assumed the role of judge, jury and prosecution.

He said according to the international law, US had no right to ask Afghanistan to hand over Osama bin Laden as it had no diplomatic relations with Afghanistan, there was no extradition treaty between Afghanistan and the US and no court of the world had convicted Osama for any crime till now.

The JI Amir expressed concern over the entrance of US forces in the region and said their entrance would be a strong threat to the Kashmir cause, nuclear programme of Pakistan, while the economy of Pakistan would become more dependent on the US.

Rejecting the stand of Gen Pervez Musharraf, he said that Pakistan had got nothing by accepting the US demands and the country was heading towards catastrophe due to this stand, adding that President Musharraf and the present setup had no right to rule the nation anymore.

Answering a query, he said Zahir Shah could not become the King of Afghanistan and his Loya Jirga could not solve the problems of Afghanistan.—PPI