Attacks unwarranted,say clerics

ISLAMABAD, OCT. 7. Some of Pakistan's most influential Muslims swiftly denounced U.S. attacks on Afghanistan on Sunday night, calling them unwarranted and grounds for an ``Islamic holy war''. One organisation summoned Muslims to ``extend full support to their Afghan brothers.''

``Americans have used their might to kill innocent people in Afghanistan instead of targeting training camps about which they were talking and making a hue and cry,'' said Amar Mehdi, spokesman for the militant Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. He condemned the military strikes on Kabul as ``a brutal attack on innocent people.''

The influential Afghan Defense Council, based in Lahore, issued a call for ``jihad.'' ``It is the duty of every Muslim to support their brothers in this critical hour. We will support the Taliban physically and morally against the aggression of America.'' The council comprises more than 30 religious and militant groups.

In Lahore, a group of Muslim clerics was in special session to discuss the Afghan crisis when word of the action reached them. The group, Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith Pakistan, issued an immediate condemnation and said Americans now face a ``highly critical situation'' in the Muslim world. Some of the hundreds of clerics in attendance were ``shocked and in tears'' upon learning of the strikes, the group said. ``We appeal to all Muslims living anywhere in the world to extend full support to their Afghan brothers in this critical time,'' said Sazid Mir, the organisation's president and a prominent scholar and religious leader. He asked the U.S. to ``immediately stop the attacks on Afghanistan and stop targeting innocent Afghans.'' Some religious leaders from Afghanistan were present at the meeting.

- AP

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