HYDERABAD, March 24: The District Council on Monday began a debate over the situation in Iraq condemning the US-led attack on Iraq and urging Iran and Pakistan to prepare to face a similar situation after Iraq.

The debate over the situation in Iraq started after five identical resolutions were tabled in the house by council members Shahnaz Baqai, Saleem Khan, Babu Ramzan, Hussain Bux Hussaini and Yousuf Qureshi. These resolutions were not part of the original agenda, which was to be discussed by the district council.

Participating in the debate on the Iraq issue, Yousuf Qureshi paid tribute to the peace loving people of the US, UK, and France and praised them for holding anti-war demonstrations.

He accused the US and its allies of succumbing to the war hysteria, saying that they had ignored the calls for peace on part of the Non- Aligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Countries and the United Nation’s Security Council.

Hussain Bus Hussaini said that the support extended by the people of Pakistan to the people of Iraq would result in strengthening of ties between the people of the two Muslim countries.

Miran Muhammad Shah and Saleem Khan described the situation in Iraq as being terrorism instead of war, saying that the people of Iraq, if they chose so, were the sole authority to replace their leader and introduce democracy or any other system of governance.

They said that whenever the Middle East had been invaded, Iraq had become their first target.

Other council members, including Rana Mehmood Ali Khan, Ibrahim Chishti, Dr Saifur Rehman, Dr Ayaz Arain and Shahnaz Baqai, also lashed out at the US for attacking the helpless and oppressed people of Iraq.

They were unanimous in their view that the US was the biggest terrorist.

Lashing out at the Muslim countries, they said that they had been instrumental in offering logistics support to the US, adding that it was an economic war as well because the US wanted to capture entire Iraqi oil industry.

They urged the people to boycott American products, saying that the US was trying to destroy Iraq economically, adding that instead of reconstruction it was destroying Iraq and its starving people.

The district council criticized the TPO of Tando Mohammad Khan for implicating the Nazim of the Jehnan Soomro union council, Abdul Raheem Katiyar, in what they termed to be a false case.

A resolution to this effect was presented by Syed Miran Mohammad Shah, according to which the TPO had locked the Nazim up after calling him to his office. The resolution also accused the DPO, Hyderabad, of backing the TPO.

The council members also staged a token walk out against the arrest.

Mr Shah said that he had talked to district Nazim, who, he said, would take up the matter with the DPO.