PESHAWAR, May 29: The lawyers’ community on Tuesday held intelligence agencies responsible for the blast outside the Peshawar High Court and decided to observe a three-day strike in protest against the incident.

They decided to hold a national seminar on June 7 on ‘The law and order situation in the NWFP and tribal areas,’ in which leaders of all political parties, bar associations and representatives of civil society groups will be invited.

The lawyers held a protest demonstration outside the high court.

They were chanting slogans against President Pervez Musharraf and the army.

Soon after the bomb blast, an emergency general body meeting was held. The meeting presided over by PHC Bar Association President Abdul Lateef Afridi condemned the blast and termed it an act aimed at terrorising the lawyers so that they should not attend the programme arranged for the Chief Justice of Pakistan in Abbottabad on June 2.

The meeting decided to take out a big procession on May 31. That procession will begin from the PHC and after passing by the Corps Commander House it will convert into a protest meeting near the Governor’s House.

A strike will be observed from May 31 till June 2.

The meeting condemned the ban imposed on Tehrik-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan by the Sindh and Punjab governments and vowed to support him on all forums.

The participants stated Mr Khan had exposed the true face of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and its leader Altaf Hussain, because of which his entry in Sindh had been banned.

The speakers alleged that the intelligence agencies had been playing an active role in the ongoing spate of bomb blasts. The said the blasts were aimed at sabotaging the movement of the lawyers.

The participants decided to fully participate in the June 2 programme in Abbottabad.

They decided that a procession of lawyers from Peshawar would join the main caravan of the chief justice at Hassanabdal, which would be given a rousing welcome at different places.