KARACHI, March 26: Amid mounting protest against the US-led invasion of Iraq, various political parties on Wednesday staged rallies in different parts of the city and called for producing rulers of the US and Britain in the International Court of Justice as war criminals.

Representatives of various political parties, from the platform of Aurat Foundation, condemned the US-led aggression.

The demonstration was staged outside the Karachi Press Club in which leaders of PPP, PPP(SB), PML(N), PTI, Millat Party, JI, SDA, Pakistan Labour Party, Pakistan Minority Front, participated.

They demanded of Pakistan and other countries to exert pressure on the US-led forces through the UN to stop the war.

The protesters deplored the ‘war-crazy’ Bush Administration for ignoring the UN Charter and it principles.

By defying the UN Charter and resolutions as well as the world opinion, the US had set a dangerous precedence of doctrine of pre-emptive strike which envisaged that if a country felt threatened another country, it could resort to first strike, the declaration said.

They observed that during the last few days of indiscriminate bombardment on Iraq by the so-called allied forces, the US-led forces were also using depleted uranium bombs. It was contended by the protesters that the strategy of shock and awe was continuation of the devastating and abhorring use of atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

They equated this policy with terrorism and said that after Afghanistan, Iraq had been made the target. Tomorrow, some other state could be the target, they believed.

The protesters said that the world now fully understood that the war on Iraq was imposed to establish American hegemony and get control of oil resources. They said that the US was not prepared to respect the international law and rights of others.

The protesters called for wearing black arm-bands to express solidarity with the Iraqi people and hoist black flags on rooftops of their houses. They also called for a campaign to collect donations for the Iraqi people.

Activists of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal also staged protest demonstrations at various traffic intersections.

They were carrying placards and banners condemning George W. Bush and Tony Blair’s policies and called for trying them for war crimes. They also called upon the government to openly support the Iraqi people against American aggression.