LAHORE, April 21: Senator Maulana Samiul Haq is unlikely to break away his Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam from the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal owing to opposition from within the party, especially its three MNAs and the party's NWFP chapter.

Party sources said the Maulana was about to announce the dissociation at a workers' convention in Lahore about three weeks ago. However, he had to defer the decision when the three MNAs opposed it citing likely difficulties for the JUI-S in the NWFP being ruled by the alliance.

For quite some time, Maulana Haq has been criticizing the MMA leadership for 'transgressing' its mandate by bailing out Gen Pervez Musharraf through 17th Amendment and by not doing enough on the issue of the military operation in Wana.

What really hurt Maulana Haq was Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Husain Ahmad's assuming charge as MMA's acting president, sources said. Being senior vice-president of the alliance, Maulana Haq believed that he had the right to the office after the death of MMA chief Maulana Noorani.

No such office exists in the MMA's organizational set-up, but Maulana Haq claims that Qazi Husain gave him the status when the alliance was being formed in 2002.