LAHORE, Nov 1: Strongly reacting to President Zardari's remarks that “Osama bin Laden was the greatest evil”, Jamaat-i-Islami chief Syed Munawwar Hasan said on Tuesday the US and its allies were the axis of evil which had thrust a war on the Muslim world to grab their resources and killed millions of innocent Muslims in the process.

“Osama bin Laden is the hero of the Muslim world as he laid down his life as expiation but President Zardari's statement is only meant to please his masters in Washington,” he said.

The JI chief said the US and its allies had failed to prove the charges against Osama and his colleagues and the existence of chemical weapons in Iraq. The US lies had been fully exposed and Washington's double standards regarding the Muslims were no more a secret, he said.

The JI chief said instead of implementing parliament's unanimous resolutions, President Zardari was adding insult to the injury. He described Zardaris's statement as negation of national honour and said the nation would have to get rid of the US slaves in the next elections.

The JI chief pointed out that the US which had been levelling serious allegations against the ISI was now asking the same agency to arrange talks.

MINORITIES:

The Jamaat-i-Islami chief told a gathering of Muslims and Christians in Islamabad that the JI believed in service to humanity irrespective of religious differences.

He said the Christians and other minorities in Pakistan enjoyed equal rights. He assured the minorities that the JI after coming into power would fully protect their basic rights. He also invited the Christians to join hands for struggle against tyranny and oppression. Mr Hasan said the JI had offered every possible help to the Christians in difficult times such as natural calamities. — Staff Reporter