August 09, 2007	Thursday	Rajab 24, 1428

LAHORE, Aug 8: Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the opposition leader in the National Assembly, has alleged that the US wants to promote unrest in the region to justify its military presence in the area.

He said although the US consistently talked of peace, its presence in Afghanistan and Iraq had only intensified war in the two Islamic countries, as a result of which hundreds of thousands of Muslims had been killed. He said war against terror was, in fact, war against Islam.

Talking to Dawn on Wednesday, the MMA secretary-general said the threats by a US presidential hopeful that Islam’s holiest sites in Makkah and Medina could also be targeted clearly showed American designs against the Islamic world.

He deplored that the Islamic countries had not reacted against the provocative threat as strongly as they should have. “It appears that their conscience is in deep slumber”.

About the reported plans that the US could attack the alleged Al Qaeda safe havens in tribal areas of Pakistan, he said such a step would weaken the writ of the NWFP government and increase the much complained against cross-border infiltration.

Fazl, who is also amir of his faction of the JUI, said there were no Al Qaeda safe havens in Pakistan.

He was critical of the government’s cooperation with the US in 2001 as a result of which America could reinforce its positions in Afghanistan. The policy formulated under tremendous pressure then should be reviewed without delay, he emphasised.

He said for its short-term interests the US was pressuring Pakistan to formulate such policies as were against its own long-term interests.

About the pressure the US was mounting on Pakistan to launch military operations in tribal areas, Fazl feared that such a step would only worsen the situation. This, he said, clearly meant that the US wanted to add to the unrest in what was buffer zone between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The MMA leader advised the government to stop killing its own people.

The opposition leader pointed out that despite all its resources, the US had failed to check infiltration from its borders with Mexico.

He said Pakistan was already doing its best to deal with the cross-border infiltration problem and should not be pressured unnecessarily.