QUETTA, Jan 5: Activists of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) staged a demonstration here on Friday against the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan by foreign forces and the execution of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. They claimed that George Bush, Gen Pervez Musharraf, Hamid Karzai and Nuri Al Maliki were responsible for Saddam’s ‘murder’.

The procession, led by MNA Maulana Noor Mohammad, started from the Jamia Mosque after Friday prayers and ended at the Meezan Chowk where JUI-F leaders made speeches.

The protesters burnt a US flag and chanted slogans against President Musharraf, President Karzai and Prime Minister Maliki and shouted in favour of Talibans and the Mujihadeen fighting against the allied forces led by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Maulana Noor Mohammad said that Mujihadeen in Iraq and Afghanistan were giving a tough fight to American forces, adding that the US had failed to suppress Islamic forces despite possessing and using all modern weapons at its disposal.

Terming President Gen Musharraf, Karzai and Maliki puppets of imperialist forces, the JUI leader said they were guilty of using their own forces against their own people to appease President Bush, adding that it was impossible to subdue the force of faith through oppression.

Paying rich tribute to Saddam Hussein, he said that Iraqi leader had remained steadfast against attackers in the face of all odds to protect the interests of the Muslim world.

He said that Saddam preferred a brave death instead of surrendering before the United States, adding that sooner or later Iraqis and Afghans, rendering great sacrifices, would force occupation forces to retreat from Iraq and Afghanistan.

He said the Americans had failed to pit Sunnis and Shais against each other, effectively dividing Iraq, adding that the two sects were waging a joint struggle and they had successfully foiled Washington’s conspiracy against the Iraqi nation.

Former provincial minister Maulana Allahdad Khairkhwa, Sattar Chisti, Maulana Shah Mohammad and Hafiz Ziaur Rehman also spoke on the occasion.