LONDON, Oct 17: Banned in Pakistan but politically active in Britain, Hizbut Tahrir, a political movement for the re-establishment of Khilafat, has asked Islamabad to sever its relations with the US and Britain and stop supporting Washington’s war against “the people of Afghanistan and Pakistanis living in the tribal belt”.

Speaking to the media here on Thursday evening, three young spokespersons of the movement, explained why they thought the West and the US wanted to destroy Pakistan.

“Because it is the only Muslim country with nuclear capability and it also has the potential to become an economic powerhouse capable of leading the Muslim Ummah to greater glories,” they said. They accused President Asif Zardari and army chief General Kayani of betraying the country’s national interests to win the approval of the US.

They proposed a five-point plan to meet what they called the challenges facing Pakistan: Completely sever diplomatic ties with the US and Britain; withdraw all types of military assistance to the “American crusaders”; cut all supply lines to Nato, where appropriate seize their military assets and defend Pakistan’s frontier with your aeroplanes, tanks and missiles; unify Afghanistan and Pakistan into a single entity; deploy nuclear weapons all over Pakistan and warn the ‘crusaders’ and their allies of a stern response should they persist in their violation of Pakistan’s territorial integrity; and extend all forms of cooperation to the Kashmiri Muslims.