KARACHI, Nov 21: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement on Sunday rejected the allegations levelled by Maulana Abdul Sattar Edhi, who had implicated the party in the burning of one of his ambulances.

Speaking at a news conference at Nine Zero on Sunday, the deputy convener of the MQM's coordination committee and its parliamentary leader in the National Assembly, Dr Farooq Sattar held that such allegations were an outcome of some serious misunderstanding.

"The coordination committee denies Edhi Saheb's allegation, in which he has held our party responsible for the burning of his ambulance," Dr Sattar said, while referring to a radio interview of Maulana Edhi.

Expressing respect for Maulana Edhi and commending his humanitarian work, Dr Sattar said one couldn't forget his services during the state operation against the party. At the time when MQM's workers were being killed extra-judicially, it was Maulana Edhi's charity and its ambulances, which transported their bodies to their homes, said the MQM leader, adding that sometimes even Mr Edhi's organization buried these bodies,

Dr Sattar did not rule out a conspiracy to sabotage the years-long trust between the MQM and the Edhi Foundation, behind the attack on ambulance. Elaborating his conspiracy theory, Dr Sattar said it could be aimed at tarnishing the MQM's credibility at home as well as abroad.

He said on the demand of the MQM the Sindh government had launched intensive investigations into the attacks on the Edhi's booths at the city's major hospitals. Some people had been arrested so far in this connection and further investigations were in progress, he added.

The MQM had also conducted independent investigations into the attacks, and the real culprits would soon be unveiled because our findings suggested that certain elements had hatched the 'conspiracy' to get political mileage, he said.

Dr Sattar disclosed that MQM founder Altaf Hussain also spoke on telephone to Maulana Edhi on Saturday and claimed that during the conversation Maulana Edhi reposed confidence in the Sindh government's investigations.

He said the MQM leadership had received a letter from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, which had suggested a misunderstanding between the Edhi Foundation and another local charity, Chhipa Trust. He pledged serious action against those involved in the attacks on the Edhi services using MQM's name.