KARACHI (Reuters) - About 40,000 activists from hardline Pakistani Islamic groups took to the streets of the city of Karachi Friday to demand an end to U.S. raids on Afghanistan and the overthrow of Pakistan's military government. (Read photo caption below)
Security was tight as overloaded pickups, trucks and buses ferried flag-waving members of right-wing and radical groups to a traffic junction in the volatile port city's District East after the main Muslim Friday prayers.
Although calls for a ``million man march'' against Islamabad's decision to side with the U.S. war on terrorism failed to materialize, the noisy but peaceful crowd swelled throughout the afternoon.
Protesters heard speakers berate the government of General Pervez Musharraf, saying he was a traitor to Muslim nations.
``Pervez Musharraf should step down and be sent into exile and the Pakistan army and the people of Pakistan should take over the government,'' said Maulana Sami-ul Haq, chairman of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Defense Council, a coalition of 35 Islamic groups that called the protest.
``Pervez Musharraf is a traitor to Islamic ummah (nations) and by siding with the U.S. he has jeopardized the solidarity of Pakistan,'' he said.
Banners read ``We are not afraid to die'' and ``We are ready for martyrdom,'' while a sign was erected renaming the location as ``Osama bin Laden ) Chowk,'' or square, as riot police and paramilitary rangers armed with staves or rifles looked on.
The Defense Council has been behind sometimes violent protests in Pakistan since Islamabad offered Washington support in its bid to flush out Osama bin Laden, protected in Afghanistan by the hardline ruling Taliban and blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
``The Pakistan army should overthrow the Musharraf government. Twenty days of extensive bombing in Afghanistan has not dampened the spirit of the Afghan people and Pakistan people are also ready for jihad (holy war),'' said Munawwar Hasan, secretary general of the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami.
PHOTO CAPTION:
A disabled supporter of the Taliban holds a picture of Osama Bin Laden after he climbed up a light pole during a rally in Karachi, October 26, 2001 in a protest called by the Pakistan-Afghanistan Defense Council. The group is a coalition of more than two dozen hard-line and militant Islamic groups who have been behind sometimes violent protests across Pakistan since Islamabad sided with Washington on its war on terrorism. (Zahid Hussein/Reuters)
KARACHI (Reuters) - About 40,000 activists from hardline Pakistani Islamic groups took to the streets of the city of Karachi Friday to demand an end to U.S. raids on Afghanistan and the overthrow of Pakistan's military government.
Security was tight as overloaded pickups, trucks and buses ferried flag-waving members of right-wing and radical groups to a traffic junction in the volatile port city's District East after the main Muslim Friday prayers.
Although calls for a ``million man march'' against Islamabad's decision to side with the U.S. war on terrorism failed to materialize, the noisy but peaceful crowd swelled throughout the afternoon.
Protesters heard speakers berate the government of General Pervez Musharraf, saying he was a traitor to Muslim nations.
``Pervez Musharraf should step down and be sent into exile and the Pakistan army and the people of Pakistan should take over the government,'' said Maulana Sami-ul Haq, chairman of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Defense Council, a coalition of 35 Islamic groups that called the protest.
``Pervez Musharraf is a traitor to Islamic ummah (nations) and by siding with the U.S. he has jeopardized the solidarity of Pakistan,'' he said.
Banners read ``We are not afraid to die'' and ``We are ready for martyrdom,'' while a sign was erected renaming the location as ``Osama bin Laden ) Chowk,'' or square, as riot police and paramilitary rangers armed with staves or rifles looked on.
The Defense Council has been behind sometimes violent protests in Pakistan since Islamabad offered Washington support in its bid to flush out Osama bin Laden, protected in Afghanistan by the hardline ruling Taliban and blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
``The Pakistan army should overthrow the Musharraf government. Twenty days of extensive bombing in Afghanistan has not dampened the spirit of the Afghan people and Pakistan people are also ready for jihad (holy war),'' said Munawwar Hasan, secretary general of the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami.
PHOTO CAPTION:
A disabled supporter of the Taliban holds a picture of Osama Bin Laden after he climbed up a light pole during a rally in Karachi, October 26, 2001 in a protest called by the Pakistan-Afghanistan Defense Council. The group is a coalition of more than two dozen hard-line and militant Islamic groups who have been behind sometimes violent protests across Pakistan since Islamabad sided with Washington on its war on terrorism. (Zahid Hussein/Reuters)