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Sami supports Musharraf's uniform
 Maulana Samiul Haq, chief of his own Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam faction, announced on Saturday that he supports General Pervez Musharraf and was against protests at the president's position as army chief. Sami said this while speaking to a private television channel, APP reported. The JUI-Sami is part of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, a six-party alliance of religious parties, that made the call for protests against Gen Musharraf. The announcement is likely to hasten the parties exit from the MMA.Staff Report adds: Also on Saturday, the Central Council of the JUI-S expelled its MNA from Karachi, Qari Gul Rahman, and the minister of law in the NWFP government, Ayaz Khan, for violating party policies. The decision was taken at a meeting of the council chaired by Sami. Qari Rahman, who was elected to the National Assembly from the Keamari area of Karachi, and Ayaz Khan had defied party discipline by attending MMA meetings. Talking to a Daily Times correspondent in Karachi over the phone, Mufti Osman Yar Khan, deputy secretary of the party, said that Qari Rehman and Ayaz Khan had been warned several times not to attend MMA meetings. Mufti Osman accused the Jamaat-e-Islami and JUI-F of "misguiding" its party members, which was tantamount to horse-trading. "On the one hand both parties protest against the autocratic rule of President Musharraf, and on the other they behave in a dictatorial manner themselves," he said. Mufti Osman said that the JUI-S had "expelled" the JUI-F and JI from the MMA because they had been working against the agenda agreed by the component parties of the alliance upon its formation. To a question, he said that his party did not support the protests against President Musharraf's decision to continue holding his army chief post. "Our efforts are aimed at restoring the 1973 Constitution," he said. Qari Rahman was not available for comment Posted by: Paul Moloney 2005-01-02 |
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