LAHORE, Sept 2: The Jamaat-i-Islami held a demonstration here on Friday against Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri’s meeting in Istanbul with his Israeli counterpart.

The demonstrators said the meeting was a departure from the policy successive governments had been following since the creation of Pakistan.

The government insists that Pakistan had no intention to recognize the Jewish state, but critics say that meeting between the two ideological foes was the first step towards the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Israel. JI Secretary-General Syed Munawwar Hasan led the demonstration outside Mansoora, directing the participants to prepare themselves to greet Mr Kasuri with black flags on his return to Pakistan.

Hafiz Muhammad Idrees, Amirul Azeem and Abdul Ghaffar Aziz also addressed. The speakers said the demonstration marked the advent of a movement which would continue till the ouster of President Musharraf and Foreign Minister Kasuri.

Slogans were chanted against the Jewish state and those yearning to have good relations with it.

The speakers said Israel was an aggressor which had occupied Arab lands and was not caring for the UN resolutions demanding its withdrawal.

“Fie on those who are trying to compromise on Masjid Al-Aqsa,” said Hafiz Idrees. He said anybody who recognized Israel could be anything but a Muslim. Other speakers said the Jamaat would resist any move to recognize Israel.

PDP: The Lahore organization of the Pakistan Democratic Party at a meeting here on Friday condemned Mr Kasuri’s meeting with the Israeli foreign minister. Syed Nadeem Abbas Rizvi presided over the meeting which was participated in by Khwaja Izhar, Mian Muhammad Munir, Hakeem Saleem Nasir, Muhammad Yousaf Ansari, Rana Abdur Rashid, Muhammad Alim Bhatty, Faisal Mehmud Khan and others.