PESHAWAR, April 28: The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) will kick off its membership drive in the NWFP and in adjacent tribal areas from May 3 in which an estimated 1.5 million new members would be enrolled, said Sirajul Haq, the party’s provincial chief.

Speaking at a press conference here on Saturday, Mr Haq said that party chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad would launch the drive from the Muhabbat Khan Mosque in Peshawar on May 3. The drive would continue for 40 days.

He said the province and the tribal areas had been divided into five zones and membership forms had been dispatched to the district headquarters across the province.

About 10,000 workers would attend the launching ceremony in Peshawar, he added. He, however, said that non-Muslims were not eligible to apply for membership.

Mr Haq expressed concern over US intelligence agencies’ involvement in the internal affairs of the country and alleged that intelligence outfits abducted people from their houses without fulfilling legal procedures. He said that Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao was showing loyalty towards the US by playing the role of a policeman.

Criticising the government’s foreign policy, he said that security forces had been fighting an aimless war in the tribal areas which made the country’s western border insecure. He maintained that the nation was at a crossroads due to the policies of the Musharraf regime. He said that Gen Musharraf was trying to divide the nation between extremists and moderates.