ISLAMABAD, June 9: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) demanded on Wednesday 'immediate arrest' of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (retired) Irshad Hassan Khan, alleging that "he is an agent of those who want to destabilize the country."

At a press conference here, over a dozen MQM parliamentarians lashed out at the CEC and accused him of being a "tool in the hands of those people in the agencies who carried out attacks on the life of Gen Pervez Musharraf and who carried out terrorist acts in Karachi and Quetta."

Prominent among those who attended the press conference were Muttahida's parliamentary leader in the National Assembly, Dr Farooq Sattar, Federal Minister for Housing Safwanullah, Kanwar Khalid Younus, Haider Abbas Rizvi, Dr Amir Liaquat Hussain, Nawab Mirza, Shamim Siddiqui, Devdas, Prof Khalid Wahab and Abdul Qadir Khanzada.

The angry MQM leaders called upon President Musharraf, Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali and Director-General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) General Ehsan to arrest the CEC if "they wanted to reach the elements who had carried out recent terrorist attacks in Karachi."

The MQM leaders said they feared the next by-polls in Karachi would witness new terrorist attacks and another bloodbath. "The only way to avert such a situation is that the CEC should be arrested and investigated so that the designs of the anti-state forces are foiled," they said.

They said a case should be registered against the CEC under which responsibility for terrorist attacks in Karachi during the by-polls could be fixed on him. They also alleged that the CEC had given the verdict at the behest of those who wanted to create instability not only in Sindh but in the whole country.

"We caution Gen Musharraf and Prime Minister Jamali that there is a group within the intelligence agency which is operating in the country to derail the democratic setup," Haider Abbas Rizvi said.

Mr Rizvi said the People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), the parties which had registered complaints with the CEC, boycotted the inquiry and did not turn up before the CEC whereas MQM members attended the entire proceedings.

Despite the fact that the complainants did not come to the court, he said, the CEC gave a decision against the accused. "The decision is illegal, unjust and unconstitutional and the MQM rejects it," Mr Rizvi added.

He said that it was for the first time in the history of Pakistan that the MQM asked its members to tender their resignations because of their poor performance. He said everyone knew that these seats belonged to the MQM.

The MQM leaders said they had started consultations with legal experts and senior party leaders and would soon announce their future strategy. "We do not want to take any decision in a hurry," Dr Farooq Sattar said when asked whether the MQM was considering the option of withdrawing its support from the Jamali government.

When asked why were they making Gen Ehsan a party, Dr Amir Liaquat said that the MQM believed that "an agency was functioning within the agency," and being the head of the institution Gen Ehsan should take notice of it.