QUETTA, Nov 1: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Deputy Secretary-General Hafiz Hussain Ahmed claimed on Saturday that the federal government was planning to launch an operation in the border areas of Balochistan at the behest of the United States.

Speaking at a press conference with National Assembly members from the tribal areas, he said the MMA had decided to launch a movement against military operations in the tribal and border areas of the NWFP and Balochistan.

He said the MNAs and senators from the tribal areas would visit the four provinces with MMA leaders to apprise the people of the military operations launched by the federal government without any justification. He the parliamentarians had started their visits from Balochistan and they would hold a public meeting at Chagai on Sunday, where MMA leaders would also speak.

He said that after the operation in the tribal areas of the NWFP, the Frontier Corps was planning to start an operation in the Chagai district.

He said the people of Chagai had strongly reacted over the preparations and observed strikes and held protest meetings in the area.

He said people of the tribal areas in the NWFP were defending the country’s frontiers and no government had sent troops there.

He said the tribesmen had not only defended the border with Afghanistan but also fought against India in Kashmir and played an important role in the liberation of Azad Kashmir.

He said the attitude of President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali had changed after their return from the United States and they had ordered a military operation in Southern Waziristan and other tribal areas in the name of hunt for Al Qaeda suspects.

He said the federal law enforcement agencies had not allowed the MMAs fact finding parliamentary mission to enter South Waziristan, creating doubts about the military operation.

He alleged that the US had issued a map in which many areas of the NWFP and Balochistan were shown as parts of Afghanistan. He said the issue of Durand Line had also been raised by the US.

He demanded that the government stop military operation in the tribal areas and release the people arrested by the law enforcement agencies.

He said the operation was launched without informing the NWFP government, which was a violation of provincial autonomy.

Federally Administered Tribal Areas parliamentarians Maulana Marjuddin, Maulana Haroon Rashid and Maulana Abdul Malik and MNA Maulana Noor Mohammad from Quetta condemned the military operation in South Waziristan and other tribal areas. They warned that such actions would force the tribesmen to take up weapons.

They said the operation launched was creating unrest among the people.