ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: Speakers at a seminar on Tuesday unanimously condemned the US air strikes on Afghanistan and warned that the West’s tirade against other Muslim countries would escalate.

Organized by the Pakistan Muslim League (N), the participants of the seminar discussed three most important issues confronting the Muslim World —- Afghanistan, Palestine and Kashmir.

In his keynote address, PML coordination committee chairman Raja Zafarul Haq while referring to the tragic happenings in Afghanistan, Kashmir and Palestine, urged upon the Muslim Ummah to forge unity and regain economic empowerment before confronting the anti-Muslim forces.

He said that in an attempt to control the fast progression of Islam in the West, the anti-Muslim forces were dividing the Muslims to stop them from becoming a formidable threat.

Raja Zafar said that taking advantage of the Muslim World’s weaknesses, the anti-Muslim forces have launched a camapign to defame Islam.

Speaking at the seminar, veteran politician, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, regretted the government’s “total surrender” to the US “on a single telephonic threat from President Bush”.

He said that the government was providing intelligence information to the United States against Taliban, who had done no wrong to Pakistan nor were they expected to harm Pakistan in future.

Nawabzada Nasrullah said that poet-philosopher Allama Iqbal had forseen the repurcussions of carving out Israel in the heart of Arab land, and that is why he had questioned that if the Jews could claim part of Palestine as their state why can’t the Muslims lay their claim on Spain.

Speaking on the occasion, Jamaat-i-Islami’s deputy chief Prof. Ghafoor Ahmed was of the opinion that although Pakistan had proudly become the part of the world coalition against the so-called terrorism, the US would leave the country in the lurch after completing its agenda.

He accused America of violating all international norms of justice and equality by targeting a nation, which had no match to its military might.

In his opinion, things would have been quite different had the president waited a little before offering his cooperation.

“I foresee a threat to Pakistan’s nuclear facility, a freeze on Kashmir issue, escalation of American-led so-called war on terrorism to other Muslim states and the country losing its defence and economic power,” he said.

Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, deputy chief of JUI-F, said the issue of Afghanistan had helped regrouping of political parties on new lines in the country.

He said the US had a long-term plan to control the oil resources of Central Asian states like it did in the Gulf by engaging Iraq with Kuwait.

Hafiz Hussain Ahmad called for an immediate formation of a national interim government to hold elections and restore constitutional dispensation in the country.

JUI leader also called upon the politicians to come out of the state of limbo to lead the nation out of the present crises.

He ridiculed the use of term “broad-based government in Afghanistan” used by president Musharraf and questioned whether General Musharraf would also agree for such a dispensation in Pakistan.

The ambassador of Palestine, Abdur Razzaq highlighted the plight of Palestinians at the hands of Zionists and their Western allies.

He said under the UN resolution of 1948, 58 per cent of the Palestinian territory was to be vacated for setting up the state of Israel but Israel has not vacated even half of that territory.

About Afghanistan, he said the right of forming a government rests with the people of that country and no one should try to impose an outside dispensation on them.

He said every one was opposed to terrorism but “we also condemn the massive killings of civilian Afghans in the air strikes”.

Ahsan Iqbal and Prof. Sajid Meer also spoke on the occasion.