March 4, 2003	Tuesday	Zul Hijjah 30, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, March 3: Local leadership of Muttahida Majlis-i- Amal (MMA) has asked the government to immediately release Ahmed Qudoos, who was allegedly arrested by the FBI personnel for having links with Al Qaeda on Saturday.

The MMA MNA, Mian Mohammad Aslam, told Dawn that his party would raise the issue of Mr Qudoos’ arrest during the on-going national assembly session.

“We hope that the government will take immediate action in this regard, otherwise the MMA will protest against the highhandedness of the local intelligence agencies working in collaboration with the FBI,” the MNA said.

Answering a question, he said if the government remained indifferent to MMA’s protest within the national assembly, it would not hesitate to come on the roads.

He accused the government of committing human rights violations on the lines of its predecessor (military regime) by violating law of the land.

Rule of law doesn’t mean that you enter into someone’s house and arrest him/her without any charge-sheet, he said.

“The government should respect the rights of every citizen and it has no right to humiliate someone.”

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat was quoted as saying that a case had been registered against the accused at a local police station, which would be dealt in accordance with the local law.

The activists of Islami Jamiat Talaba, students’ wing of Jamaat-i-Islami, on Sunday also staged a demonstration in front of Dawn Islamabad office to protest against the arrest of Ahmed Qudoos.