KOHAT, Nov 7: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who has been shifted to Kohat and put under house arrest in the Tanda Dam Rest House, has vowed that his party will not repeat past mistakes.

He promised that the party would bring about a change in the country’s politics by paving the way for a sane and patriotic leadership this time after ousting President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Talking to Dawn on Wednesday at the rest house, which has been declared a sub-jail, he said the Jamaat had been misled by political leaders like Nawaz Sharif, Bhuttos and others.

Criticizing the government, the JI chief said it had compromised on the very sovereignty of Pakistan by allowing US forces to use the country’s air space and extending other facilities for attacking Afghanistan.

Security in Kohat has been tightened. The telephone of the rest house has been disconnected. The Tanda Dam Rest House has been declared a sub-jail almost after 16 years. The last leader to be detained there was Abdul Wali Khan, who spent two months there during the martial law of Gen Zia-ul-Haq.