15 May 2004	Saturday	24 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

PESHAWAR, May 14: Provincial Senior Minister Sirajul Haq has accused the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) of being a terrorist organization which creates lawlessness in the country.

Speaking at a protest rally here on Friday, he alleged thatthe MQM was hatching conspiracies to separate Karachi from Pakistan. Terming MQM chief Altaf Hussain a US agent, he said the Muttahida was following the imperialist agenda.

He alleged that the federal and Sindh governments had given a free hand to terrorists in Karachi and changed the by-elections results at gunpoint.

The minister, who also heads the Jamaat in the NWFP, accused the MQM of promoting the Klashnikov culture in urban areas of Sindh and organizing an armed wing to create terror in the region.

He urged the federal government to ban the MQM and hold a probe into recent killing of MMA workers.

On an appeal of Jamaat chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad, protest rallies were held in different parts of the NWFP on Friday against the killing of its workers in Karachi, said a press release.

The press release issued from Al Markaz-i-Islami, the JI provincial headquarters, said protest demonstrations were also held in Abbottabad, Swabi, Mardan, Mansehra, Haripur, Kohat, Bannu and other parts of the province.

PROTESTS: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), NWFP chapter has condemned the killing of its workers in Karachi and hasdemanded immediate resignation of the federal interior minister.

Jamaat-i-Islami workers of theone of the main components of the MMA, took out protest procession from Mohabat Khan mosque, which ended at Qissakhwani Bazaar on Friday.

Later, speaking at a press conference the MMA spokesman Mufti Kafayetullah denounced the brutal murder of workers and alleged that an ethnic group had made the people of Karachi as hostage.

He alleged that activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) were enjoying full support of the administration. He alleged that the governor of Sindh was protecting unwanted elements, and demanded his removal.

The spokesman said that the federal interior minister had failed to provide security to voters in by-elections and even polling agents were kept away from the polling stations at gun point. He also demanded immediate resignation of the interior minister.

He said that many parts of Karachi had been declared so- called "no-go areas" and even paramilitary forces could not enter these areas of the city. He was of the view that state agencies had failed to counter anti-state elements in urban parts of Sindh.

About by-election results, the spokesman said that the MMA rejected the results and asked the Chief Election Commissioner to hold re-election in Karachi. He said that independent sources had confirmed massive rigging in the by-elections.

Mufti Kafayetullah criticized the Awami National Party (ANP) forsupporting the MQM in the by-elections and alleged that the so-called nationalists had compromised on the rights of Pukhtuns in crises-stricken province.