KARACHI, March 2: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has condemned Thursday’s carbomb blast near the US consulate in the city in which several people, including a US diplomat, were killed and many others wounded.

In a statement, MMA chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed also deplored that considerable damage to public and private property was caused by the blast.

He said that instead of sending any message to President Bush, the sabotage activity had served to disturb the ongoing protest campaign led by opposition parties against the blasphemous caricatures published by European press.

Describing the bomb blast within the ‘high security zone’ at a time when President Bush was about to land in the country as ‘a big question mark’, the MMA chief said this reflected the poor performance of the national security agencies.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed criticized the government for its failure in maintaining law and order in the country, especially in Karachi, and said that killings and robberies in Karachi and Lahore were on the rise but instead of ensuring protection to people, the government was using its energy and forces against its own people in Waziristan and Balochistan.

He said that Gen Musharraf should step down immediately as he was responsible for the killing of many innocent people.

Meanwhile, JI leaders Dr Mairajul Huda Siddiqui, Abdul Ghaffar Umer, Mumtaz Hussain Sehto, Rashid Nasim, Nawab Mujahid Baloch and others have also condemned the blast and expressed sorrow and grief over the loss of life and property in the incident.

In a joint statement issued here on Thursday, they described the perpetrators of the explosions as enemies of Pakistan, Islam and humanity. Such acts of terrorism must be condemned by all, they said. However, they added, the policies pursued by the government were equally responsible for the terrorist activities across the country.—PPI