RAWALPINDI, Feb 20: Hundreds of people on Thursday staged a protest rally against the possible US attack on Iraq.

The Mutahidda Majlas-i-Amal MNA, Muhammad Hanif Abbasi, led the march, which started from Fawwara Chowk and culminated at Committee Chowk. The participants were carrying banners inscribed with anti-US slogans. They were also chanting slogans against the US and President Bush.

‘We want peace, not war’, read a banner. A placard said: ‘War results in orphaned children and weeping mothers’.

Speaking on the occasion, Hanif Abbasi said the US wanted to capture oil resources in Iraq and the Middle East. “There is no justification of imposing war on Iraq after the UN inspectors have reported that no lethal arms have been found,” he said. He asked the government to respect the people verdict and support Iraq against the US.

Mr Abbasi said the million march on March 9 would prove that the people of Pakistan were with their Iraqi brothers and that the latter were not alone. He called upon the Muslim world to unite together in order to foil the imperialist agenda.