KARACHI, April 8: The lone representative of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement in the Sindh Assembly, Yunus Khan, on Thursday alleged that the arrest of his party chief Afaq Ahmed was result of a deal between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Gen Pervez Musharraf on support for the National Security Council bill.

"We are being targeted as a result of this agreement," he told a news conference, alleging that the "Muttahida is using law-enforcement agencies against us as a quid pro quo for its support to Gen Musharraf." Mr Khan, however, said that despite arrests of his party activists, struggle against injustices would continue.

He maintained that the operation launched against his party on Nov 18, 2002 was still on, and claimed that thousands of party leaders and workers had so far been put behind bars just to please Muttahida and its self-exiled chief. He claimed that Muttahida had supported Gen Musharraf also in his referendum on the condition that Amir Khan and Afaq Ahmed would either be arrested or forced to leave the country.

However, he added, leaders of Mohajir Qaumi Movement remained in the country unlike those who, despite being in the government, did not have courage to return home. "Now when the military and its secret agencies are supporting Muttahida, why the latter's self-exiled leadership is not returning home from London," he questioned.