May 13, 2007	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 25, 1428

QUETTA, May 12: The Balochistan chapter of Awami National Party (ANP) has condemned the killing of its activists who were going to the Karachi airport to welcome Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Friday. It condemned the Mutthaida Qaumi Movement (MQM) allegedly for the attack on its activists.

Speaking at a press conference here on Saturday, Acting provincial president of the party Asghar Khan Achakzai said that dozens of activists and workers of political parties had been killed or injured in the attack.

Mr Achakzai said that if the MQM could organise a rally to support a general then why could other political groups not take out a procession to receive the chief justice who had been invited by the Sindh Bar Association.

The ANP leader said that while the MQM workers were allowed to freely use lethal weapons against their political rivals, the police and rangers remained silent spectators.

Mr Asghar claimed that the violence in Karachi was a pre-planned conspiracy to sabotage the visit of the chief justice to Karachi whose visits to Sukkur, Hyderabad, Peshawar and Lahore had remained peaceful.

Lauding the sacrifices of ANP members and workers of other parties killed, he said the party chief Senator Asfandyar Wali Khan would announce a future line of action soon.