ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Thursday announced the revival of the defunct religious parties’ alliance Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) without inclusion of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and JUI-S (Sami-ul-Haq group), DawnNews reported.

Speaking during a press conference, the JUI-F chief said the national security is facing dire threats and it was call of the hour to revive the coalition of religious parties in the country. “Even ideological values of the nation are being tried to be replaced,” said Fazl.

Commenting on exclusion of the JI from the alliance, Rehman said, “They (JI) will be invited in the next meeting.”

Fazlur Rehman said he had always opposed all military operations whether in Pakistan or in Afghanistan, adding that he neither belongs to Taliban nor to the government.

Owais Noorani, Qari Zawar Bahadur, Mufti Abrar, Sahibzada Abul Khair Muhammad Zubair, Professor Sajid Mir, Allama Sajid Naqvi and other prominent religious leaders belonging to different religious groups of the country also accompanied the JUI-F chief during the press conference.

The MMA had won the second largest majority in the National Assembly with 58 out of 342 seats and a majority in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (the then NWFP) assembly in the 2002 election.

There has been growing concerns among workers of religio-political parties for the last six months or so as the JI had attached conditions for joining the MMA.

Meanwhile, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Sami, the founding party of MMA, also brushed aside its chances of joining the alliance.

JUI-S provincial chief Maulana Yousaf Shah said last month that Fazlur Rehman was politically isolated and made the announcement of reviving the MMA to mobilise his party workers.

“JUI-Sami has abandoned MMA and will never become its part,” he said.

Shah said his party chief, Maulana Samiul Haq, who was also the chairman of Defa-i-Pakistan Council (DPC), might form a new electoral alliance before next general elections.