Pakistan prepares for anti-U.S. rally

Thousands of demonstrators marched in cities throughout Pakistan today to protest a potential U.S.-led war against Iraq

Islamabad - Thousands of demonstrators marched in cities throughout Pakistan on Friday to protest a potential U.S.-led war against Iraq, prompting tight security around the U.S. Embassy and other sensitive sites.

In all, fewer than 12,000 protesters showed up across this Muslim nation of 145 million, and most shopkeepers ignored calls to close for the day.

The government called the poor turnout a sign that Pakistanis may be tiring of harangues and restrictive laws from religious conservatives.

``I think people are disappointed the way the (religious coalition) Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal has behaved,'' Pakistan's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said, referring to the religious group that called the protest.

The party governs one of Pakistan's four provinces, where -- in the name of Islamic purity -- it has cracked down on movie houses, burned videos and ordered all buses to stop at Islamic prayer times.

In the biggest showing, about 7,000 people gathered outside the Madni Masjid mosque -- the largest mosque in the Western city of Peshawar -- chanting ``Down with America,'' and ``Long Live Saddam Hussein.'' Friday is the Muslim day of prayer.

In the central city of Multan, some 1,500 demonstrators gathered, some burning an effigy of President Bush and chanting slogans against Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who has thrown his nation's support behind the U.S. war on terror in neighboring Afghanistan.

``We will destroy America if it attacks Iraq,'' said Salim Chohan, a local cleric in Multan. Another cleric, Qari Abdul Ghafoor, accused Musharraf of being ``an agent of Jews and America.''

In the capital, Islamabad, about 400 people rallied outside the Red Mosque -- the site of pro-Taliban protests in the past -- some carrying banners that read ``Yankees: Don't Spread Hatred in the Muslim World'' and ``Stop the Holocaust Against Muslims.''

Several dozen police stood nearby with anti-riot shields and sticks; traffic was diverted and two fire trucks were parked at the edge of the crowd, but the protesters remained mostly calm. Demonstrations, each involving about 1,000 people, were also held in the southern port city of Karachi, the eastern city of Lahore, and the southwestern town of Quetta.

``We are nobody's slaves. We are slaves of Islam. We will fight, until America and its stooges are expelled from Pakistan,'' cleric Noor Mohammed, a member of the recently elected national assembly, told the crowd in Quetta.

The demonstrations were a result of a Dec. 21 call by hard-line Islamic leaders who won unprecedented support in recent nationwide elections. The religious leaders also called for shops to shutter their windows in allegiance, but it appeared that many were staying open.

Supporters say the marches are just a taste of the anger that an attack on Saddam's regime would cause in Pakistan, a deeply conservative Muslim country but a crucial ally in the U.S.-led war on terror.

``The American attack on Iraq will be an attack on the Islamic world,'' said Fazl-ur Rahman, a one-time candidate for prime minister and a leader of the Islamist coalition, called the Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal. ``If today we cannot stop America from attacking Iraq, then tomorrow they will attack Iran, and then it could be Pakistan.''

At the Peshawar rally, Rahman called on supporters to ``become a great wall against America if Bush carries out an attack on Iraq.'' He told the emotionally charged participants of the rally. He called America ``an international terrorist.''

There have been a series of terrorist attacks on Westerners and Pakistani Christians since Musharraf's decision to side with the United States in its efforts to topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and some fear the anger will intensify if America wages war on another Muslim country.

The U.S. Embassy said it was monitoring events, but was not unduly concerned.

``We're watching events closely,'' said spokesman Terry White. ``But it's not accurate to say we're behind-the-barricades afraid. ... We've been security conscious for months.''

Pakistan's government, which on Jan. 1 took over a seat on the U.N. Security Council, has been reluctant to discuss it's position on Iraq. But Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali urged his countrymen not to waste their energy defending Saddam's regime.

Even before Friday's protests got under way, tensions were heightened after a rogue Pakistani border guard shot a U.S. soldier. That prompted troops to call in an airstrike along the border.

The shooter is in custody of Pakistani authorities and the U.S. soldier, who underwent surgery at a U.S. military hospital in Germany, should be returned to his home soon, officials said. He has not been identified.

The U.S. military says the entire clash took place on Afghan soil, but Pakistan's government says only that it is investigating to see if the Americans crossed over into its territory. -- AP

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