March 31, 2003	Monday	Muharram 27, 1424

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PESHAWAR, March 30: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has asked the international community to expel the US from United Nations for violating its charter and try President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair for war crimes.

A demand to this effect was made at a huge rally organized by the six-party alliance here on Sunday to condemn the US-led invasion of Iraq. Diverse claims were made about the number of participants of the rally held at the G.T. Road here. According to organisers over half-a-million people attended the rally. Independent sources, however, put the figure at a much lower level.

The participants were carrying placards inscribed with slogans calling for expulsion of FBI agents from Pakistan and a halt to war in Iraq. They also chanted slogans in favour of Osama bin Laden and Mulla Omar.

Over a dozen effigies of President Bush and Prime Minister Blair were also set on fire.

Speaking on the occasion, central leader of the MMA Qazi Hussain Ahmad said after Afghanistan and Palestine the Bush administration had opened another front against the Muslim world by attacking Iraq. He said it was time for the Muslims to turn Iraqi desert into a graveyard of imperialist forces.

“I salute the Iraqi soldier who killed five US Marines in a suicide attack,” the MMA leader said, adding that Jihad was the only option to halt the US aggression. He urged the people to seek guidelines from the holy Quran to counter threats and challenges.

Mr Hussain asked the NWFP government to implement recommendations of the Nifaz-i-Shariat Council in the province.

In his speech, general secretary of the MMA Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that for the first time in the history the US had become isolated in the world. He said like the former Soviet Union, the US would also collapse in the near future.

Maulana Fazl said the US had waged a war against a country which had been facing economic sanctions for the last 10 years. He said tens of thousands of women and children died in Iraq every year due to non-availability of food and medicines and now the US was subjecting innocents civilians to aggression.

He said the US had bypassed the UN Security Council and was committing crimes against humanity. The JUI chief urged the international community to launch a military action against America.

Maulana Samiul Haq of the JUI said Pakistan could be the next target of the US aggression. He recalled that the MMA had warned the government not to support US military action against the Taliban but the government did not pay heed to it. He urged the Muslim countries to stop supply of oil to America and suspend trade and diplomatic relations with Washington.

Hafiz Saeed of the banned Lashkar-i-Taiba said the UN and the OIC had failed to fulfil their responsibilities therefore the Muslim countries should form a separate united nations of Muslim countries. He asked Islamabad to annul all bilateral agreements with Washington.

Hafiz Hussain Ahmad of the JUI said resistance put up by the Iraqi people against the American military might and the moral support of the international community would force the US to withdraw its forces.

He said entire world had condemned the US aggression but Islamabad was keeping mum over the issue. He claimed that the government had prorogued the National Assemble session after it became known that the opposition parties would table a motion against the US invasion of Iraq.

The rally was also addressed by MMA President Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani, Prof Sajid Mir, Allama Ramzan Tauqir, Liaquat Baloch, senior provincial minister Sirajul Haq, Tehreek-i-Istiqlal chief Rehmat Khan Wardaq and parliamentarians from Fata.

IMPRESSIVE SHOW: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal managed an impressive show against the invasion of Iraq by the US-British forces.

The march began from the overhead bridge on Ring Road at 2.30pm and reached its destination at the G.T. Road after an hour. A large number of MMA workers as well as people from other districts attended the rally.

Besides portraits of President Saddam Hussain, some of the protesters were also carrying pictures of Osama bin Laden, Maulana Mufti Mehmood, Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Maulana Fazlur Rehman. The MMA had prepared thousands of placards inscribed with pro-Iraq and anti-war slogans in English, Urdu and Pashto languages.

The police had closed the G.T. Road from Suri bridge up to the overhead bridge on the Ring Road for vehicular traffic, which caused problems to motorists.

Most of the MMA leaders in their speeches called for a Jihad against the aggressive governments and urged the people to prepare themselves for a long war in the Gulf. They were of the view that the US was building a new empire in the Middle East.

They also deplored the apathy of the Muslim leaders towards the war on Iraq and urged the Muslim Ummah to first unite against the leadership and then against the US.

Participants of the rally a number of effigies of US President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.