HYDERABAD, Oct 7: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf general-secretary Meraj Mohammad Khan has said that his party is not a supporter of the Taliban government but it is opposed to any war against Afghanistan.

He said this while talking to a group of journalists at the residence of Dr Abdus Samad Shaikh here on Sunday.

Replying to a question about Jihadi organizations in Pakistan, he accused successive governments of criminal negligence, and said those organizations had been encouraged and nurtured by successive rulers.

Mr Khan said Islam was a religion of peace, but the so-called religious leaders were misinterpreting its teachings. He added that the US had not come out of its cold war perceptions and that its policies had given birth to terrorism.

He stated that 90 per cent population of the country had been against the United States during the last 50 years, as the US had remained a staunch protector of the colonial system and was also responsible for creating unrest in many sovereign states.

He said China comprised one third of the world population but it had not been allowed to become a member of the United Nation till 1973, and added that “even today America is openly supporting Taiwan”.

The US had refused to back not only the world environmental conference decisions, but it had also sabotaged the anti-racial and slavery conference held in Durbin recently, he said and that half a million children had died in Iraq for want of medicines and due to malnutrition because of the sanctions imposed by the US and other western countries.

The TI leader said Israel was a terrorist state, but America was openly supporting Israel, and claimed that the Pakistan government was with the US, but the people were opposed to the American designs to attack Afghanistan.

He said that not only the people, but also President Gen Pervez Musharraf had strong reservations in that regard.

He made it clear that his party was not against Gen Musharraf, but it was against the US policies.

Mr Khan observed that the Afghanistan issue needed to be resolved in a peaceful manner, and feared that if some hand-picked government was thrust on Afghanistan, the entire region would be destabilized.

The US was criticizing extremists religious groups, but it was the US that had collected all the extremists elements against the former USSR, he said and added that the United Kingdom had incited the people of Afghanistan against Amanullah Khan.

He stated that 45 million population of Pakistan was living below the poverty line and the country was groaning under the huge burden of $38 billion loans. No one, he added, would be doing any favour to Pakistan if those loans were written off.

He remarked that $600 million given by the US was not for Pakistan but for the Afghan displaced persons. He said if there was any proof against Osama bin Laden, it should be made public.

Mr Khan was of the view that the US foreign policy would completely isolate America, and said that not only terrorism but also the double standards should be condemned.

He observed that there were quite a few people in the government who wanted to make the Pakistan’s foreign policy subservient to the US.