December 19, 2003	Friday	Shawwal 24, 1424

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PESHAWAR, Dec 18: On the call of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal rallies and meetings were held across the NWFP on Thursday to protest against the Legal Framework Order (LFO).

A press release issued from Al-Markaz-i-Islami on Thursday said big rallies were taken out in Mardan, Nowshera, Abbottabad, Mingora, Dera Ismail Khan, Haripur, Mansehra, Upper Dir, Swabi and Bannu.

The press release said that in Landi Kotal, Khyber Agency, the MMA workers also staged protest rally which was addressed by tribal elders. The MMA leaders, MNAs and MPAs led the rallies.

On this occasion the speakers denounced the policies of President Gen Pervez Musharraf and demanded complete restoration of the 1973 Constitution.

In Peshawar a small group of MMA workers paraded through the city roads carrying placards and banners. They also chanted slogans against President Gen Pervez Musharraf and the Legal Framework Order.

The march, which started from Madani mosque, Namakmandi, ended at the Shaheedan chowk in Qissa Khwani bazaar.

MNAs Shabir Ahmad Khan, Sabir Hussain Awan and Qari Fiazur Rehman Alvi led the procession.

Speaking on the occasion, they said the six-party alliance would oppose dictatorship and would not strike a deal on the supremacy of parliament and sanctity of the Constitution.

In Swabi, MMA leaders and workers gathered at Kernel Sher Chowk, holding placards. They raised slogans against the government policies and the LFO, adds our Swabi correspondent.

The demonstration was addressed by MNA Maulana Khalil Ahmad, Mohammad Guzman and JUI-F’s Najeem Khan.

They criticized President Musharraf and the government’s position on the LFO and what they called “subjugation of parliament”. They demanded restoration of “real power” to the elected representatives.

Our Mingora Correspondent adds: The MMA workers took out a protest procession on Thursday as part of the movement launched against the Legal Framework Order.

They raised slogans against the federal government and vowed to continue their movement against the LFO.

Speaking on the occasion, Swat Jamaat-i-Islami Amir Dr Anwarul Haq and General Secretary Noor Afghani claimed that President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali were insincere in negotiations with the opposition parties. He said they were using delaying tactics.

Other leaders said the opposition parties in general and the MMA in particular had decided to continue the anti-LFO movement till it was abolished. They said that in the presence of elected assemblies the laws like the LFO had no value and the government should abolish them forthwith.