Posted on 09/21/2001 6:24:47 AM PDT by SlickWillard
Friday September 21, 10:06 AM
|
|
|
|
PESHAWAR/KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Shouting "God is Great", setting fire to shops and stoning cars, thousands of protesters across Pakistan raged at their president's decision to stand with the United States in the hunt for Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden.
"Stop aggression against Afghanistan", "We will fight until the destruction of the USA", shouted a crowd of 5,000 in the heart of Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province that borders Afghanistan -- home for the last five years to Osama bin Laden, the world's most wanted man.
In the commercial capital, Karachi, armoured personnel carriers, police vans and paramilitary rangers protected the U.S. consulate and patrolled the city after the 35-group Pakistan and Afghanistan Defence Council called for a nationwide strike and protests against any possible U.S. military strike against Afghanistan.
Protests in Peshawar, home to at least two million Afghan refugees, were noisy and demonstrators burnt an effigy of U.S. President George W. Bush, who on Thursday issued an ultimatum to Afghanistan's ruling Tailbone to hand over bin Laden, wanted for masterminding the attacks last week on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
"We have to show and tell the people how unjust America's actions are to try to attack the Taliban without any concrete evidence," said Abdul Khaliq, spokesman for the hardline Jamiat Ulema Islam.
"The government should know what the people are thinking," Khaliq added.
A decision by Afghanistan's senior Islamic clerics for Kabul to persuade Saudi-born bin Laden, prime suspect in the devastating attacks last week on the United States, to leave looked unlikely to ease the angry mood.
OSAMA ENEMY OUR ENEMY
"If Musharraf supports the Taliban that is good, if not he is our enemy," said one protester in Peshawar who described himself as a mujahid, or holy warrior.
Shops in Peshawar and most other cities were closed -- some in support of the strike but many fearing protesters if they were seen to be ignoring the call.
Karachi, the commercial hub of Pakistan, was virtually a ghost town.
An armoured personnel carrier, 14 police vans and five trucks of paramilitary rangers ringed the U.S. consulate. Some 15,000 police had been put on duty to maintain law and order in the city of 11 million.
"The city looked lifeless," said one resident of sprawling industrial port city of Karachi.
A transport strike kept many people from their jobs, forcing nearly all businesses and schools to close.
Hundreds of thousands are expected to participate in rallies after midday prayers, said a spokesman for the groups organising the protests, including the militant Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM).
"We have issued a call for a peaceful strike and assured the authorities that there will be no violence," the spokesman said.
"We are taking all possible precautions despite assurances from clerics," said Syed Kamal Shah, inspector general of police.
HEAVY POLICE PRESENCE
In the ancient city of Lahore, large groups of police were deployed around the city in protective riot gear, some armed with semi-automatic weapons but most carrying sticks. Army trucks patrolled, packed with soldiers in combat gear and with machine guns mounted in front.
Government officials in Peshawar warned foreign media to stay out of markets. The government sent a letter to hotels saying a notice on the ban was to be posted.
No reason was given for the notice, which was called "most urgent" and said journalists "should desist from still photography and filming of defence installations".
In the western city of Quetta, capital of Baluchistan, police ringed hotels and prevented local and foreign reporters from leaving, saying the situation was too volatile.
A snap poll by Gallup Pakistan showed 62 percent of those questioned opposed Musharraf's decision to stand by the United States in what it has called its war on terrorism.
Musharraf's stance has been denounced by religious leaders.
"This hasty decision made by the Pakistani government does not enjoy the support of the masses since this is tantamount to mortgaging the national sovereignty for mean and petty games," Qazi Hussein Ahmed, head of Pakistan's largest Islamic party Jama'at-e-Islami, said in Islamabad on Thursday.
Thousands of enraged Afghans, stuck at border points as they try to flee their war-torn and drought-ravaged country before the feared U.S. attacks, were expected to protest to back up their demands to enter Pakistan.
These people really hate us. The idea that bin Laden represents some isolated segment of Islamic society is nonsense.
So far, and this is the initial report, at least 30 people have been killed, including three police.
What I want to know is why Musharraf allows this. Pakistan is not a democracy, after all. They can't protest against their own government, or for women's rights, or for economic liberalization, or for anything at all.
The two-faced policy of our allies will be our ruin if we are not careful. These protests could be quelled if Musharraf really wanted to do so.
I like this name better. Did the writer of the article make a Freudian slip?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.