LAHORE, Jan 1: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has announced that it will hold a procession on Friday (Jan 3) to protest FBI raids in the country and the feared US attack on Iraq.

Liaquat Baloch and Maulana Abdul Gafoor Haidri will lead the procession to be held from Nasser Bagh on the Lower Mall to the Governor’s House on The Mall.

They will also present a memorandum to the governor on the occasion.

Local MMA leaders have been visiting various religious seminaries and mosques for the last couple of days to win support of scholars for the procession. They are also urging them to condemn in their Juma sermons the US plan to attack Iraq and continuing FBI raids in Pakistan.

Speaking at a press conference here on Wednesday, Lahore MMA leaders Mian Maqsood Ahmad, Maulana Saifuddin Saif and others said that they had informed the local administration about the proposed procession. However, they said that they had neither sought the administration’s permission nor did they think it was necessary for the purpose.

They said the administration needed not to worry as the protesters would remain peaceful for the event had been planned only to show solidarity with Iraqi people.

They said the faithful would assemble in the Nasser Bagh at 3pm and after offering the Asr prayers they would march up to the Governor’s House.

They claimed that the PML-N, the Pakistan Awami Tehrik, the PPP, the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf, the Jamaatud Dawaa and other parties had been contacted and their leaders had assured their whole-hearted participation in the procession.

The MMA leaders condemned bombardment by US planes on South Waziristan Agency and held the government responsible for the incident for, they said, its cowardice was encouraging the US to humiliate Pakistanis in their country and in the United State as well. Demanding an immediate end to the FBI raids in Pakistan, they said the government must ensure that peaceful citizens like Dr Ahmad Javed Khwaja would not be arrested in future.

They held foreign secret agencies RAW, CIA and Mossad responsible for the attacks on churches in Pakistan to develop a case against the country for (punitive) action by the world community.

They urged the Ummat to get united against the United States which, they said, wanted to grab Muslims’ resources and crush their political power.