QUETTA, Sept 22: Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman has urged opposition parties to wage a joint struggle with the MMA to ensure victory of democratic forces against dictatorship.

Speaking at the Tahaffuz-i-Islam Conference in Pishin on Wednesday, the central leader of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal warned the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) that a divided opposition would only help President Gen Musharraf.

He called upon the ARD leadership to avoid criticism of the religious alliance and try to restore the confidence of the people to launch a movement against anti-democratic rulers.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman threatened that if President Musharraf hesitated to shed uniform by Dec 31, he would face serious consequences for what he said violating the constitution.

The MMA, he said, had agreed to the 17th Amendment to facilitate an honourable exit of the army from politics, but unwise rulers began playing with public sentiments.

Strongly criticizing the president, he said it was misfortune of the nation that the head of the state had made commitment on the television to honour the accord reached between the government and the religious alliance, but now had deviated from it.

Referring to the resolution adopted in the NWFP assembly against the president in uniform and the withdrawal of the PML resolution favouring Gen Musharraf in the Balochistan assembly, he said it was a clear message that the people of both provinces were not willing to accept him in uniform after Dec 31.

He categorically declared that the PML being a coalition partner of the Balochistan government should not table a resolution in favour of the president in uniform as the MMA would not let it pass in the provincial assembly.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman denied that there were any differences among the MMA leadership. These baseless reports were being spread to create misunderstanding in the ranks of the alliance, he said.

The leader of the opposition condemned American atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan, and expressed the hope that resistance movements in those countries would succeed in liberating their motherlands.

The MMA leader accused the United States of looting resources and wealth of Muslim countries. Only unity among the Muslim states could ensure protection of their resources, he added.