January 4, 2003	Saturday	Shawwal 30, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 3: The government should immediately change its pro-US foreign policy to safeguard the sovereignty of the country.

This was stated by the participants of two protest demonstrations held against the imminent American attack on Iraq, outside Lal Masjid in Islamabad and in Raja Bazaar, Rawalpindi, respectively.

The demonstrations were held after the Friday congregations on the call of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA).

Thousands of people participated in the demonstrations and chanted anti-American slogans. They were holding placards and banners inscribed with slogans like “Stop Holocaust of Muslims” and “Redemption in Jihad alone”.

The speakers asked the masses to boycott American products. They also urged the Islamic world to deal with the issue of Iraq like their own problem and prevent the US from fulfilling its nefarious designs around the world, specially in the Middle East.

They said the US government wanted to dominate the world by capturing the oil reservoirs of the Arab countries through controlling the centre of Islam — Saudi Arabia.

The participants of the demonstration held in the capital unanimously passed a resolution that urged the Muslim rulers to pass a tough resolution against the possible American attack on Iraq in a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference.

The resolution added that such an attack will be viewed as an attack on the whole Islamic world.

A number of journalists from national and international media were present on the occasion. Heavy contingent of police had been deployed to avert any untoward incident.

Speaking on the occasion, MMA leader Maulana Samiul Haq urged Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali to assert his role as the leader of an independent and sovereign parliament instead of following foreign dictates. He said the United States was flexing its muscle to wipe out Muslim from the surface of the earth. He said suppression could not block the way of Muslims, adding that “the more they suppress us, the more we will rise”.

The landslide victory of religious parties in two provinces during the general elections was a crushing blow to “hawkish” Bush administration, he said. He warned that American attack on Iraq would trigger a serious backlash from the religious forces.

Mr Haq observed that the American war was driven by its lust for oil deposits in the Muslim countries. He also came down hard on President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s slogan, “Pakistan First”.

He deplored that the citizens of Pakistan, which was a frontline state in the war against terrorism, were being finger printed and subjected to torture in the US. After Iraq, America intends to carry out an attack on Pakistan, he maintained. He said: “It is a matter of our survival to stop war on Iraq.”

Other speakers said the Muslim bashing throughout the world was sponsored by the US. They also criticized the government for allowing the FBI to pick up its citizens.

Our Reporter From Pindi Adds: The participants of the demonstration held in Raja Bazaar raised slogans in favour of Osama Bin Ladin and Mullah Umar. The termed those who cooperated with the US in its war on terrorism as traitors of Islam and Pakistan and held them responsible for the killing of innocent Afghan citizens.

The Nazim-i-Aala of Jammiat Ittihad-i-Ulama, Punjab, Maulana Abdul Jalil, speaking on the occasion, said it was about time that the Muslim countries retaliated against the atrocities committed by the US and Israel against Muslims.

He said Iraq was following the UN Security Council’s resolutions by providing a free-hand to the weapons inspectors to check the suspected sites. But the US wanted to oust Saddam from power, control Iraq’s oil reservoirs and use the country as a military base to control the Arab world in favour of Israel.

Maulana Qadri Akbar of Jammiat Mashaeh Ahl-i-Sunnat said it was the US which used its weapons against the weaker nations throughout the history. Islamic countries should also develop their military power to face any challenge from the US and its allies like Israel.

Maulana Mehmoodul Hasan Balakoti of Jammiat Ulama-i-Islam (Samiul Haq) and MMA’s candidate from PP-11 in general elections Maulana Abdul Majeed Hazarvi maintained that there were more than 15,000 FBI and other US agencies’ personnel operating inside Pakistan.

They maintained that owing to the anti-Muslim policies of the US and the government’s unconditional support in this regard, the people of the NWFP and Balochistan supported the MMA in the general elections.