MULTAN, March 3: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal will mark US President George Bush’s presence in Islamabad on Saturday by observing a ‘black day’ to protest against what its leadership called anti-Muslim policies of the United States.

Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman urged people to hoist black flags and organize protest rallies throughout the country to tell Mr Bush how unpopular he was among the Pakistanis.

He was addressing a rally organized at the Ghanta Ghar Chowk here on Friday. The rally was part of a country-wide strike called by the opposition parties to protest against publication of sacrilegious cartoons.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman said President Bush’s visit to South Asia, in fact, focused only on cementing ties with India. He said America had signed far-reaching pacts with India in the fields of economy, defence and energy.

He praised the Indian people for their countrywide protests before and during President Bush’s visit. He attached much importance to India but the people there did not forgive him for his hegemonic economic designs and his policies of war and invasion, he observed.

He said the Indian people were not directly affected by the Bush regime while the people of Pakistan in particular and the Islamic world in general were victims of ‘American atrocities’.

“We cannot forget the carpet bombing in Afghanistan, violation of boundaries and killings in Waziristan,” he maintained.

He said the MMA was not against maintaining diplomatic ties with the US, but by observing ‘black day’ the alliance wanted to express resentment against the policies of the Bush administration. MMA’s Liaquat Baloch and ARD’s Nawabzada Mansoor Ali Khan also addressed the protesters.

Other leaders of the MMA and ARD also attended the Shan-i-Risalat meeting organized at the Qasim Bagh Fort under the banner of International Khatam-i-Nabuwat Conference. The meeting demanded punishment under the Islamic Laws for people who drew and published the blasphemous cartoons.

Earlier, MNA Liaquat Baloch, while addressing a press conference, termed the alleged suicide attack outside the American consulate in Karachi as a conspiracy to pressurize Pakistan into cooperation for a possible US strike on Iran. He announced that the MMA’s protest rallies in Karachi on March 5 and in Quetta on March 7 would be organized as per the schedule.

Heavy police and rangers contingents remained alert throughout the protest of the MMA while the protestors also observed discipline. They burnt flags of USA and Denmark to give a vent to their anger and later dispersed peacefully.