ISLAMABAD, July 14: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal president Qazi Hussain Ahmed on Saturday said he would resign from the National Assembly in protest against the Lal Masjid operation.

Addressing a news conference here, the MMA chief reminded the media that he had not been attending the assembly for quite some time, saying he would attend its next session only to tender resignation.

He, however, clarified that other MMA lawmakers would not be bound by his decision. They would abide by the alliance’s decision, he added.

Criticising the government for troop deployment in Dir and Swat, the MMA chief said it appeared the government was preparing for another operation without the consent of the NWFP government, adding that it might provoke people against the armed forces.

Qazi Hussain said MMA’s secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rahman had clearly told him that the NWFP chief minister was not in favour of the deployment since his government was capable of handling the situation.

He said that MMA’s supreme council and leaders of Tanzimat-i-Madaris — an umbrella group of five Wafaqul Madaris organisations — would meet on Sunday to chalk out a strategy to counter what he termed an onslaught against Islamic values.

He said the Jamaat-i-Islami’s Al Khidmat wing had set up a helpline to help trace the seminary students missing after the operation.