November 02, 2007	Friday	Shawwal 20, 1428

LAHORE, Nov 1: Declaring President Gen Musharraf a security risk, MMA President Qazi Husain Ahmad says the army ruler’s policies are undermining the very foundations and unity of the country.

The Qazi, who is also amir of the Jamaat-I-Islami, was replying to queries after a press conference held here on Thursday to brief the media about the three-day unusual congregation of his party starting from Friday (today) to devise a strategy for coping with the present crises in the country.

“The country needs no external enemies like India and Israel when Gen Pervez Musharraf is already carrying out the US agenda by pitching the armed forces against its own people in the name of Taliban and Al-Qaeda, pushing it towards possible disintegration.”

He regretted that the army regime had rejected the MMA offer to broker peace in Swat by gathering all the stakeholders on a negotiating table.

Asked if the congregation would enable the Jamaat to mobilize people against the incumbent rulers, he asserted that the moot of 30,000 `highly-committed’ workers would infuse a new spirit in the countrymen against the forces of tyranny.

He told a questioner that the masses did not come out on earlier calls of the MMA against the present rulers because people could take part in a peaceful democratic movement and not against armed forces and police.

However, he warned that usurping of people’s democratic right through use of force could push the people to take up arms against the establishment like it happened in Waziristan and Swat.

The MMA leader did not see the possibility of a fair and free polls with Gen Musharraf calling the shots. “Only a fool can expect free and fair elections when Gen Musharraf, Chaudhrys of Gujrat and MQM are at the helm of affairs.”

He told a questioner that they could think of seat adjustments with the ruling party or the PPP in the general election only after “setting our own house in order.”

He played down the ongoing war of words between JUI-F and Tehrik-i-Insaaf chairman Imran Khan and did not see that it could disintegrate the newly-formed opposition alliance All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM). He said the mutual differences and complaints would be solved in forthcoming meetings of the APDM.

He was also sure that growing divergence of opinion among various MMA components on current political crisis would also be resolved in the supreme council meeting of the religious grouping scheduled for Nov 8.

He asserted that the Jamaat had the credibility to overcome political problems likely to be faced in the wake of loss of standing by the JUI-F leadership.