Protests rock Pakistan
Special report: Pakistan
Staff and agencies
Friday September 21, 2001
Angry protests in Pakistan brought parts of
the country to a virtual
standstill today as demonstrators rallied
behind Islamic groups.
Shops were closed and transport suspended as
demonstrators made their
voices heard in response to a nationwide
strike called by Muslim clerics.
It is the fifth consecutive day of protests
in the country, but by far the most
dramatic with police, their numbers boosted,
firing tear gas into some
boisterous crowds.
Protestors are acting against their
government's pledge on Wednesday to
support American military strikes against
neighbouring Afghanistan, where
Osama bin Laden, the chief suspect in last
week's terrorist attacks in
America, is defended by the Taliban.
Despite ongoing negotiations Afghanistan's
ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul
Salam Zaeef, announced today that Taliban
rulers will not hand over Bin
Laden without evidence. Asked if the Taliban
would deliver him, said, "No,"
but his translator added, "No, not without
evidence."
Pakistanis near the Afghan border vowed to
launch a war against Americans.
Thousands of protesters swarmed the streets
of Peshawar, in the north west,
shouting anti-American and anti-Pakistani
slogans. Burning a life-size
effigy of the US president they shouted:
"Long live Osama".
"We will fight until the death and
destruction of the United States," one sign
read. "Crush America and Bush," read another.
Hardline Islamic clerics fuelled the strength
of feeling and told their
listeners that they backed bin Laden and the
Taliban leadership, which has
protected him and his followers in
Afghanistan for years.
Hundreds of people watched the procession
from rooftops and balconies in a
city where most people are Pashtun, the same
ethnic group predominating
among the Taliban, and where there are two
million Afghan refugees.
Heavily armed police, estimated at 15,000,
patrolled the city on foot and in
tanks.
Violence flared in Karachi, the country's
biggest city and its commercial
hub. The largest incident was in the Sohrab
Goth neighbourhood, where an
estimated 1,500 Afghan refugees clashed with
police, burning tyres and
attacking vehicles.
In other parts of Karachi, police were forced
to fire tear gas and beat people
with iron-tipped sticks to disperse crowds
pelting vehicles with stones and
blocking roads. At least 70 demonstrators
were arrested, police said.
In other parts of the country such as the
south west city of Quetta, Lahore
and Islamabad, the capital, police were on
guard, many in riot gear, but
protests had not begun. Most shops and
schools were ordered to close for
their own safety.
The general strike also closed schools,
offices and shops in the northern
Indian state of Jammu-Kashmir, where Islamic
rebels are fighting for
independence with the support of Pakistan.
America has agreed to lift sanctions imposed
on Pakistan and India and to
reschedule $600m (£410m) in bilateral debt
with Islamabad, a senior
western diplomat said today.
The diplomat, who asked not to be identified,
said that "discernible progress"
would be seen soon.
Details of the surprise deal are reportedly
being finalised at the moment and
will allow a resumption of American
assistance to Pakistan, which ended
after sanctions were imposed for the nuclear
tests it carried out in 1998.
The news come after a fruitless year of talks
under the Paris Club to
reschedule Pakistan's bilateral debt.
America will sign an agreement on
rescheduling $600m worth of debt, part
of Pakistan's $1.6bn debt considered by the
Paris Club, in a move seen by
many as a reward for Pakistan in return for
its support of the US over its
expected attacks against Pakistan's
neighbour, Afghanistan.
The US has turned to Pakistan because of its
critical geographical position,
on the border with Afghanistan and its ties
to the Taliban regime.
The Afghan Defence Council, an alliance of 35
religious and militant groups,
has warned the Pakistani leader, general
Musharraf, that his decision to
back America could plunge the country into
civil war.
With almost a week of protests, which are
becoming increasingly heated, and
American strikes imminent, many Pakistanis
fear civil war is inevitable.
Yesterday, a grand Islamic council in
Afghanistan met at the request of the
Taliban leadership and took the decision to
ask Bin Laden to leave
voluntarily.
It is not yet known if he will comply, or if
a war could be averted even if he
did.
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