18 February 2004	Wednesday	26 Zilhaj 1424

FAISALABAD, Feb 17: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) Naib Amir and chief of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Senator Samiul Haq, has blamed Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Maulana Fazlur Rehman for playing in the hands of the establishment and adopting policies that may split the religious alliance.

Flanked by MNA Maulana Hamidul Haq and NWFP Deputy Speaker Ikramullah Shahid at a news conference here on Tuesday, the MMA leader said that the MMA had provided relief to the government over the issue of LFO just to get some feedback. But the rulers not only violated the agreement but also launched an operation in the tribal areas to blackmail religious parties, he added.

He claimed that MMA's support for the government over the LFO issue was criticized by everybody and now the religious parties had no agenda to present to the public. The policies of MMA were not up to people's expectations due to the attitude of Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, he added.

He said that the MMA had become a two-party alliance as its policies were being implemented by two religious leaders, and this threatened unity of the alliance.

To a question, Senator Sami said that at its last meeting, his party had given the MMA a one-month deadline for resolving all the issues through dialogue. If the matter was not resolved through consensus, the JUI would be left with no option but to part ways, he said.

He criticized the government policies, especially the stand on nuclear scientists, saying the present rulers had become stooges of America and were working for the Western forces at the cost of prestige and dignity of the nation.

He alleged that President Gen Pervez Musharraf had been given a three-point agenda by the American forces, which he was implementing by disgracing the religious institutions, taking a U-turn on the Kashmir policy and dubbing the nuclear scientists as culprits.

To another question, MMA leader said that President Musharraf had no right or authority to declare any law of the country callous or uncalled for. The rulers were trying to convert an Islamic country into a secular state which would not be allowed at any cost, he concluded.