Pakistan: Demonstrators Call for Jihad

Arab News ^ | April 3, 2003 | Reuters

[miltonim]

QUETTA, 3 April 2003 — Tens of thousands of Pakistanis called yesterday for a holy war against Washington and its allies as they protested the US-led military action on Iraq.

The turnout in the rally in the southwestern city of Quetta was between 60,000 and 100,000 — lower than in some other recent protests in the country, even though the right-wing religious parties that called it are in the regional government.

The protesters gathered in a central square and jammed surrounding roads in the Balochistan provincial capital.

They gathered in response to calls from the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance and directed their anger against US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

They chanted “Bush is a dog” and “Blair is a dog” and “Long live Osama (Bin Laden)” and “Long live Saddam (Hussein)”, referring to leaders of the Al-Qaeda network and Iraq.

Participants called for jihad against the United States and its allies and ripped up effigies of Bush and Blair.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed, leader of the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami urged people to be ready for a holy war and to become human shields in Iraq.

“Are you ready to become fidayeen (suicide attackers)?” Ahmed asked the crowd, and many hands were raised enthusiastically. “Are you ready to become human shields in Iraq?” Ahmed asked to the same response.

“I am ready to go to Iraq to fight the infidels if someone would arrange for me to go there,” said 21-year-old Ali Gul as he shouted “death to Bush” in chorus with others around him.

A 25-year-old Afghan national, Matiullah, said he was willing to go to Iraq for jihad if he was asked to do so.

Police estimated the number of protesters at 60,000, while AFP reporters put the crowd at up to 100,000.

Earlier, in Pakistan’s first parliamentary reaction to the Iraq war, the Senate, or upper house, passed a unanimous resolution deploring the war and calling for its immediate end.

On Sunday, an MMA-sponsored rally in the northwestern city of Peshawar drew up to 100,000 people, the biggest protest so far in Pakistan since the war started two weeks ago. President Pervez Musharraf has been a strong ally of the United States in its war against terror despite strong opposition from religious groups.

However, he has kept a distance on the Iraq war, with the government saying it deplores the use of military force there. Small rallies against the war have been held daily throughout Pakistan. So far, all the protests have been peaceful.

[miltonim]

[trebb]

A 25-year-old Afghan national, Matiullah, said he was willing to go to Iraq for jihad if he was asked to do so.

Okay, I'll ask: "Matiullah, will you please go to Iraq for jihad"?

[sauropod]

Body bag ping.

[kevao]

Just how many times are these people going to declare jihad against us? Enough already; we get the idea.

[Desecrated]

Hey! Did you hear radical Islam declared Jihad on us? I didn't think they were serious the other million times, but this time, they mean it!

[Mister Baredog]

De ja vu all over again!

[PogySailor]

OK, what's this, Jihad XXXXXXXX?

They need to find another word to use.

[reagandemocrat]

Oh NO! Not Jihad!!!!!

[Redleg Duke]

Bring it on, towelheads...bring it on.

Just don't let your alligator mouth write checks your hummingbird ass can't cash!

[areafiftyone]

They say Jihad - I say "A pox on your camel"!!!

[OHPatriot]

I've had it up to my eyes with all these loud mouth religious fanatics. The muslims have Jihad, well it's about
time someone tells them loud and clear the Americans have Whoop Ass, and we are not afraid to use it.
Bring it on towel head!!

[BureaucratusMaximus]

Oh NO! Not Jihad!!!!!

LMAO!

[Uncle Miltie]

“I am ready to go to Iraq to fight the infidels if someone would arrange for me to go there,” said 21-year-old Ali Gul

"But we radical muslims are so useless to humanity that we can't afford the plane ticket."

Sorry Ali! With GDP per person of $200 in the Muslim world, you're gonna have a hard time buying ammo.

[RoseofTexas]

Pakinstan....HMMMM aren't they the one in kahoods with India?? Let India take care of them for us with one nuke!!

[Hammerhead]

These damn Mullahs are worse nags than my wife.

Jihad, Jihad, Jihad.....


OK! Cripes! Enough already!

We get it ok?

[Aaron_A]

People rally against the US-led war against Iraq during a protest in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, April 4, 2003. More than 50,000 people marched through the streets of this central Pakistani city on Friday, denouncing the U.S.-led war in Iraq and urging Muslims to prepare for holy war against ``American infidels.'' (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer)

[KingPin]

......Yawn.... I'm trembling in fear... Oh no, not another Jihad....


When will these idiots get a clue.

[Centurion2000]

Where's a string of napalm munitions when you REALLY need one ??