MQM plotting to kill me: Qazi

* Accuses Musharraf of supporting the conspiracy

By Mohammad Imran

ISLAMABAD: MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed on Friday accused the government of conspiring to kill him.

“The Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s government in Sindh with the support of President General Pervez Musharraf has decided to eliminate those who support jihad,” Qazi told reporters.

He said that President Musharraf had several times said that the only threat faced by the country was from extremists and he would get him eliminated describing him an extremist.

He said the car he used during his visits to Karachi was set on fire when the Sindh ameer and Karachi ameer of Jamaat Islami (JI) came at the Karachi Airport to bid him farewell. Qazi said both JI officer bearers were going back after seeing him off when about 25 to 30 motorcyclists blocked the passage, asking them to get out of the car and setting it on fire later. “I always used the same car during my stay in Karachi and it’s a clear message that they want to kill me,” Qazi said.

He went on to say that the Sindh government was following policy to eliminate jihadi elements from Pakistan and President Musharraf was supporting this approach, which was why verses of the Holy Quran related to jihad had been removed from textbooks.

He said a Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba worker, Aslam Mujahid, who was a prominent leader of the JI’s Karachi chapter and Tahir Jamal, nazim of Landhi Zone of JI, had been murdered over the last 15 days. “The MQM government is trying to provoke the JI, but we have remained peaceful and will not get involved in any conflict,” Qazi said. He said that Ishrat-ul-Ibad was appointed Sindh governor after clearing cases against him and this has deteriorated law and order in the province.

“The Bari Imam shrine bombing was not a suicide attack and was masterminded by those working for the United States and wanted to disrupt the MMA’s peace rally scheduled for May 27,” he said. He said the country was facing serious problems, both externally and internally, but the army was not doing its job to save the country from such dangers.

Replying to questions about his letter to the MMA supreme council, Qazi said that every member had the right to convey his opinion, verbally or in written form. About leader of the opposition Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s request to withdraw the letter, Qazi said the issue would be decided at the next meeting of the supreme council.

Commenting on the possibility of mid-term elections, he said that as long as Gen Musharraf was president, fair and free elections could not be held.

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