17 November 2004	Wednesday	04 Shawwal 1425

PESHAWAR, Nov 16: Chief of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Qazi Hussain Ahmad on Tuesday stated that the US and India had chalked out a secret plan of occupying the North Western areas of Pakistan including Waziristan in the so-called war on terrorism.

He said that Gen Musharraf had put the Pakistan army on the disposal of the US and had turned into a security risk for the entire country.

"By occupying various key institutions and offices, the Pakistan Army and Gen Musharraf have violated their oath under the Constitution and unless they are removed from power the safety of the country could not be ensured," Qazi Hussain said.

Speaking at an Eid milan party arranged by the Jamaat-i-Islami, District Peshawar at Jinnah Park, he asked Gen Musharraf to fulfil the commitment he had made with the MMA and the entire nation and shed his uniform before Dec 31.

Qazi Hussain announced a series of protest public meetings starting from Nov 28 at Karachi, stating that if Gen Musharraf did not announce any schedule for removing his uniform they would launch a countrywide movement which would culminate on the removal of President Musharraf.

He stated that the public meeting in Karachi would be followed by meetings at Multan, Lahore and Rawalpindi on Dec 5, Dec 12 and Dec 19, respectively. The government, he added, had been trying to thwart their protest meeting in Karachi, but they had identified 200 sites where their workers would gather and hold corner meetings if they were not allowed to hold the main meeting.

Their movement, he said, would be peaceful and through peaceful means they would struggle for the removal of Gen Musharraf. He asked party workers not to be scared from going to prison. He asked: "How many citizens could be put behind the bars by the government?"

The JI's chief stated that the American forces could not have occupied Afghanistan if Gen Musharraf had not openly supported them. He added that the American forces were now stuck up in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He regretted that the Pakistan Army, which had been drawing salaries from the hard earned money of the people, had been fighting the same citizens. "Just like Musharraf supported US against Afghanistan, in the same manner he will support the US attack on Iran and Pakistan will be left isolated in the Islamic world," the JI leader added.

Qazi Hussain referred to a recently published book, stating that in the "US Secret War" it was mentioned that for tracking down Al Qaeda the US forces would attack the North- western part of Pakistan including Waziristan and finally the US and India would occupy that area.

"The Pakistan Army is no longer a professional army and it has now assumed positions in cantonments against its own people," Qazi Hussain said. The armymen, he said, were scared of their own citizens and had set-up pickets and fixed machine-guns in different chowks in the cantonments. He added that unless Pakistan amry stop participating in political activities it could not perform its professional duties.

The gathering was also addressed by provincial naib amir of JI, Maulana Mohammad Ismael, MNA Shabir Ahmad Khan, provincial minister Kashif Azam, naib nazim Peshawar City District, Dr Iqbal Khalil and Amir of JI Peshawar Hakeem Abdul Waheed.