KARACHI, March 2: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain has strongly condemned Thursday’s terrorist attack near the US consulate and termed it a conspiracy to defame Islam and Pakistan.

He observed that the act of terrorism had been resorted to at a time when President George Bush was arriving Pakistan.

In a statement issued from London, Mr Hussain alleged that those involved in the dastardly act and in killing innocent people were enemies of the state and its people.

“They want to bring our noble religion Islam and our country Pakistan into disrepute through terrorism and bloodshed. Islam, being a peaceful religion, is deadly opposed to such cowardly acts.

“Today’s blast is also an attempt to destroy the image of Karachi under a well-planned conspiracy.”

CITY NAZIM: Terming the Thursday bombing in the city ‘dastardly act’ City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal said that it was aimed at sabotaging the development activities currently under way in the whole country, particularly in Karachi.

The nazim, who rushed to the site following the blast, lashed out at the terrorists who had struck again, now at a time when the city was on the threshold of rapid development. He described the blast as a conspiracy to put the city’s development activities to a halt.