PESHAWAR, July 28: The Jamaat-i-Islami and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) staged separate protest meetings here on Friday against Israeli attacks on Lebanon. The JI staged the protest meeting at the Kabuli Chowk in the Qissakhwani Bazaar after the Asar prayers. JI’s Ameer Qazi Hussain Ahmad did not attend the event. However, JI’s General Secretary Munawwar Hasan, Naib Ameer of NWFP Hakeem Abdul Waheed and MNA Shabeer Ahmad Khan, NWFP ministers Hafiz Hashmat and Fazle Rabbani and other leaders addressed the gathering.

They criticised Israeli attacks on innocent people of Lebanon and Palestine and urged the government to stop cooperating with the US for its anti-Muslim policies.

The JI leaders urged European countries not to follow irrational policies of US President George Bush and help stop bloodshed in the Middle East.

The leaders warned if Israel did not stop attacking innocent Lebanese and Palestinians, the situation might worsen. And certainly, it would also prove costly for the western world.

Meanwhile, the PML-N also took out protest rally from the Sunehri Masjid in the cantonment area after the Friday prayers.

The protesters, led by PML-N leaders Iqbal Zafar Jhagra and Pir Sabir Shah, converged at the Chowk Fawar where they addressed the gathering. They criticised the government for not supporting Muslims against the US and its allies’ aggression.

They urged the government to represent the sentiments of Pakistani people at international forums and sever ties with the US for its blind support to the Israeli oppression.

At the end, the angry protesters torched the US flag and then dispersed peacefully.

Our Swabi Correspondent adds: Leaders and activists of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) on Friday criticised the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and other Islamic bodies and said that they had failed to protect Muslims in Lebanon and Palestinian territories, constantly assaulted by Israeli forces since July 12.

They were addressing a protest demonstration held here to protest against Israeli aggression in Lebanon and Gaza.

Criticising the OIC and the Arab League’s silence over the continuous Israeli barbarism against innocent civilians, MNA Khalil Ahmad said that the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq by America and attacks on Lebanon and Palestine by Israel were not isolated incidents. He said that they were well-coordinated moves by what he termed infidel forces to change the map of the volatile Middle East in accordance with their global agenda.

He held rulers responsible for the under-development of Muslim people and said that they always tried to cling to power and failed to formulate policies for making their countries powerful”, he said.

JUI-F’s Najeem Khan said the US and Britain along with their allies had given a free hands to Israel to achieve their objectives. Other speakers said that the Muslim leaders should abandon the policy of appeasement as it invited aggression.