26 June 2004	Saturday	07 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, June 25: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), especially the Jamaat-i-Islami, has planned to organise a peace rally in the city so that a law and order situation can be created, and to blackmail the government once this aim is achieved.

This was stated on Friday in a joint statement issued by members of Sindh assembly belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

In their statement, JI's secretary general Munawwar Hasan was criticised in particular.

The MPAs claimed that Mr Hasan was once a member of JI's "Thunder Squad", which resorted to extreme measures in an effort to achieve objectionable objectives.

If the JI was at all sincere in bringing peace and rule of law to Karachi, it said, the party should have condemned attacks on imambargahs, mosques, police personnel, and the corps commander's convoy. "Instead, the party called for strikes, thereby, creating a law and order situation in the city," said the statement.

It further said that some people, allegedly belonging to al-Qaeda, had been arrested from the residences of MMA activists and leaders.

The MMA controlled the government in the NWFP, and was also part of the Balochistan government, yet the JI did not condemn attacks on public assets, including Sui airport; and neither condemning attacks made on the residence of Zubaida Jalal, added the statement.