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LARKANA, March 23: A bid by anti-war protesters to march on to the Shahbaz Air Base in Jacobabad was foiled on Sunday by the police as widespread protest rallies were held to condemn the US-led invasion of Iraq in various areas of Sindh, including Larkana, Dadu and Shikarpur.
In Larkana, thousands of protesters, on the call of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, (F) held a demonstration here on Sunday against the US-led war on Iraq.
A procession, led by JUI-F general-secretary Hafiz Hussain Ahmad and Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro, was taken out from the Madressah Ishatul Quran.
The protesters, carrying party flags, banners and placards inscribed with slogans against war, marched through the main roads of the city where heavy contingent of the police were deployed.
The protesters were raising slogans against the US and its allies.
The procession culminated in the demonstration outside the Jinnahbagh.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ahmed, Dr Soomro, Maulana Muneer Ahmad Panhwar and others said the Iraqi land would prove to be a graveyard for coalition forces.
They also criticized the rulers for their pro-US polices and urged them to extend support to Iraq.
Calling upon different religious sects to shun their differences, they announced protest rallies would be staged throughout the province.
SHIKARPUR: The Anjuman Tulba-i-Islam took out a procession here on Sunday to protest against the attack on Iraq.
The protesters condemned the US for lodging the war and expressed their solidarity with Iraqi people.
They also staged a demonstration at the Lakhi Gate tower.
Talking to the protesters, speakers called upon people to boycott US products.
The protesters also burnt the effigy of US President George W. Bush.
DADU: Hundreds of people, under the banner of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, took out a procession from the new bus stand here on Sunday to protest against the US attack on Iraq.
The protesters, carrying banners and raising slogans against US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, marched on the main roads of the town.
SUKKUR: A large rally was taken out on Saturday in Jacobabad to protest against the US-led attack on Iraq.
The rally, which started from the Madresah Qasimul Uloom, terminated at the DCO Chowk. Protesters were led by the president of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, Sindh, Maulana Asadullah Bhutto.
Protesters set on fire effigies of US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair and also torched a US flag.
Extraordinary security measures were taken during the rally with auxiliary police force being called in from different districts to secure sensitive areas in Jacobabad.
The police had sealed off the entry and exit points to the Shahbaz air base.
Leaders of the MMA, including Dr A. G. Ansari, speaking on the occasion, said that the US-led attack against Iraq was not an end in itself but it was destined to become a long struggle between the oppressor and oppressed.
They described the attack on Iraq as being a US attempt to grab the Iraqi oil, adding that Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan were its next possible targets.
SHAHBAZ AIR BASE: Over 2,000 protesters, belonging to the Mutahida Majlis-i-Amal, were stopped on Sunday from holding an anti-war demonstration outside the Shahbaz Air Base in Jaobabad, stationing a considerable number of the personnel of the US Air Force, adds AFP.
Protestors, who had staged the first rally of its kind in the city to protest against the US-led invasion of Iraq, were stopped from marching on to the air base and were forced to change their course.
The marchers moved on to the downtown area and blocked traffic by staging a sit-in.
The rally called for the total withdrawal of the US troops from Jacobabad and other military bases in Pakistan and appealed to the people to boycott American products.
