KARACHI, March 20: The provincial chief of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy, Zain Ansari, on Saturday criticized the alleged demolition of the houses of activists of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement in Landhi , which was previously termed as no-go areas by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

Speaking at a news conference, Mr Ansari accused the major component of the ruling coalition in Sindh of targeting rival activists.

He claimed that Gen Pervez Musharraf had plunged the city in another cycle of state terrorism by ordering in Nov 2002 the dismantling of the so-called no-go areas and giving a free hand to his ally to go on a rampage against political opponents.

Mr Ansari, who was accompanied by Kamran Rizvi of the MQM, said the murder of Abdullah Murad of PPP and the members of the MQM sector committee, Liaqutabad, Mohammad Ashraf and Mohammad Rashid, was a clear indication that those who had raised the bogey of no-go areas were trying to make Karachi a "no go city".

Mr Ansari also deplored the government operation in Wana owing to which, he added, the country was fast drifting towards a civil war.