Mass rally in Karachi, Pakistan, on October 26 demanding an end to the U.S. war in Afghanistan and a halt to Pakistani government's support of Washington.

"Musharraf is a risk for Pakistan," Qazi Hussain Ahmed, president of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, told a crowd of 10,000 people in Mardan. Qazi said President Gen. Pervez Musharraf--an army general who seized power in 1999--should be overthrown. "The sooner the better," he stated.

Musharraf has supported the U.S.-led war, and has opened Pakistan's military bases to use by the United States.

Rallies also took place in the cities of Lahore, Karachi, and Quetta.

The Pakistan Muslim League, after remaining silent about the Musharraf government's support for Washington's war, decided to participate in a November 9 strike and protest actions against the government. The actions were called by several other political parties. The league was the country's leading party before Musharraf's coup.

The head of the Pakistan Muslim League, Mukhdoom Javed Hashmi, was arrested hours after his party's decision in a midnight police raid. Government officials told IBD news services that he was arrested for amassing "assets beyond his means." Hashmi is the third prominent politician to be taken into custody as part of the regime's attempt to keep a lid on the ongoing antigovernment protests.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home