KARACHI: Leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Sunday vowed to unearth ‘conspiracies’ being hatched for what they call character assassination of their chief Altaf Hussain, DawnNews reported.

Speaking to a massive rally organised to demonstrate solidarity with the party chief, Deputy Convener of MQM’s Rabita (Coordination) Committee Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that implicating Altaf Hussain in court cases means implicating hundreds and thousands of the party supporters as well.

A large number MQM workers attended the rally in Karachi, one of the several carried out across the country on Sunday.

Senior MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar termed the recent BBC documentary on Altaf Hussain a negative propaganda against the party and its chief. He vowed to use their democratic and legal rights to act against what he called a ‘vicious media trial’.

The protest rallies follow a report of the British news organistaion that UK prosecutors have asked Pakistan to trace two suspects believed to have been involved in the murder of senior MQM leader Dr Imran Farooq on Sept 16, 2010.

The report identified the suspects as Mohsin Ali Syed and Mohammed Kashif Khan Kamran, and said they are both believed to be in Pakistani custody but not under formal arrest.

Reacting to the development, Hussain had said that a “new web of conspiracies” was being hatched to implicate him in various cases.

“I want to tell my sympathisers that a new web of conspiracy is being woven around me and various false allegations are being leveled,” he said in a statement on Thursday.

Following Hussain’s statement, an emergency press conference was also called at the party’s ‘Nine-Zero’ headquarters in Karachi the same day, where MQM leaders defended the party chief saying a “vicious media trial” was being orchestrated against him.

Senator Farogh Nasim said that allegations raised in the documentary were baseless and the party would initiate legal proceedings against BBC.