Pakistan Political Parties

"Everybody is concerned as to what the American conquerors are going to do next and who is their target… It also comes to mind that what 9/11 really was and what it is said to be, or was it a deliberate ploy to create justification for wiping out Afghanistan, Iraq and create a springboard for launching attack on Syria, Iran and others… it was "absurd for Rumsfeld and other Americans to suggest that the people of Iraq are now free. This is a freedom of the graveyard. The whole country has been destroyed and hundreds of thousands of civilians have been massacred. If this happened in America, would Rumsfeld insist that the Americans are free."

- Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, chief, Sindh National Front, Karachi, April 14, 2003.

"Arab and Muslim leaders act as the most obedient servants of the US."

- Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal chief, Karachi, April 13, 2003.

"If the Muslim's had united then no force of the world had the courage to attack Iraq."

- Hammed-u-Din Al Mushraqi, leader of the Khaksar Tehrik, Lahore, April 11, 2003.

"Infidels can only be defeated by unity among Muslims."

- Maulana Abdul Wahid, religious leader, Quetta, April 11, 2003.

"May Allah destroy America and Britain… May Allah help the Mujahedeen in Iraq, Kashmir, Palestine, Chechnya and around the world."

- Maulana Mohammed Ishaq, MMA leader, Islamabad, April 11, 2003.

"The occupation does not mean that people of Iraq have accepted America."

- Ameer-ul-Azeem, Spokesperson for Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, Islamabad, April 11, 2003.

"We are hopeful that Muslims in Iraq will never surrender their freedom to the invaders… If Saddam had done justice to his people, probably he would not have suffered this fate."

- Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, Leader of Jamaat-Ulema-e-Islam, Islamabad, April 10, 2003.

"We pray that Iraqis would continue to resist American tyranny and terror and we believe victory will come to them in the long run… History would record the sacrifice of Iraqi people in defence of their sovereignty and independence threatened by US imperialism… The attack was motivated by US designs to grab oil resources of the Iraqi people and enslave them."

- Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Islamabad, April 10, 2003.

"In principle, I don't think the US, Britain and their allies have any moral justification to prevail on other nations not to bypass the UN resolutions on any issue… The reported appointment of a pro-Israel US general to rule Baghdad vividly manifests the possible shape of Iraq and the region."

- Raja Zafarul Haq, Chairman, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz Sharief), Islamabad, April 8, 2003.

"We will be dubbed mullahs who want to create chaos if we start sending volunteers to fight there… The need is for diplomatic, political and moral support to condemn US aggression on Iraq."

- Liaqat Baloch, Leader, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan, Islamabad, April 6, 2003.

"It is not the policy of MMA to send volunteers to fight jihad in Iraq… If on the Iraqis' call any Muslim from Pakistan wants to go to Iraq, he may go...but only provided the government allows him to do so."

- Riaz Durrani, Spokesperson, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan, Islamabad, April 6, 2003.

"We pray to Allah to destroy the aggressors and bestow victory on Iraqi Muslims."

- Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Secretary General, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan, Multan, April 4, 2003.

"America wants to destroy all Muslim countries one after another, so let us go and fight in the way of Allah."

- Maulana Rahmatullah, Tanzeem-i-Ulma, Peshawar, April 3, 2003.

"Jihad has become obligatory on every Muslim following the US attack on Iraq… Let's go to battlefield against the aggressor."

- Maulana Shamsur Rehman, Jamaat Ahle Sunnat, Peshawar, April 3, 2003.

"The way France, Germany and Russia opposed the US-led war against Iraq in the security council, it has now incumbent upon them to use force against coalition forces to protect Iraq… So far in the history of the UN, the US had vetoed over 75 resolutions and now when one of its resolutions was threatened to be vetoed by other countries, it withdrew that resolution."

- Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Secretary General, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan, Karachi, April 3, 2003.

"Over 90 per cents of world nations and countries, including Arab League despite their wrong-doings, have rejected the invasion of Iraq."

- Meraj Mohammad Khan, Secretary General, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Karachi, April 3, 2003.

"The million marches, organized by the Muttahida Majlis-e- Amal and attended by millions of people in all five big cities of the country, give a message to the government to review its policies… Now nobody in the world is ready to believe any more what the western media is presenting about the state of affairs in Iraq".

- Syed Munawar Hassan, Secretary General, Jamaat-e-Islami, Karachi, April 3, 2003.

"This war could come to an end just in five days if the Arab countries stop oil supply to the US."

- Begum Nasim Wali, Awami National Party, Peshawar, April 2, 2003.

"The PML-Q-led federal government could not even muster strength to condemn the US action, instead they preferred to deplore its criminal act against the people of Iraq."

- Asfandyar Wali Khan, central leader, Awami National Party, Peshawar, April 2, 2003.

"This war would have grave consequences for the entire region… and needs to be opposed at all fronts".

- Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharief, former Premier, and chief, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Jeddah, April 2, 2003.

"The US attacked the Afghan Muslim civilians on mere doubts and now the Jewish lobby has been fully exposed who is behind the US administration. Muslim countries are being targeted one by one by levelling false and baseless allegations. In the context of the Iraq war, the US has criminally ignored the UN resolutions which wanted a peaceful resolution to the problem."

- Open letter of Millat Party Punjab Secretary Imran Riaz to the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, April 1, 2003.

"We condemn the US-led aggression on Iraq, but we cannot afford to go Iraq because we are already engaged in jihad against India in occupied Kashmir."

- Statement of an unnamed spokesperson of the United Jehad Council, a conglomerate of 14 Pakistan-based terrorist organisations, Lahore, April 1, 2003.

"The government should make arrangements for 10,000 volunteers of this area [Skhakot tribal region bordering Afghanistan] to take part in Jihad against US forces in Iraq."

- Maulana Muhammad Zaman, religious leader, Islamabad, April 1, 2003.

"The US and UK have invaded Iraq because it possesses weapons of mass destruction and both North Korea and Pakistan have them too, which means the next war to destroy these weapons will be fought in these countries… I fear Pakistan might be targeted because its (nuclear) command and control system is not responsible."

- Farhatullah Babar, Pakistan People's Party, Islamabad, April 1, 2003.

"US-led attack on Iraq is an eye-opener for the world and it should evolve a joint strategy to block the American aggression."

- Habib Jalib Baloch, Balochistan National Party (Mengal) secretary general, Quetta, March 31, 2003.

"It is ironic that Bush administration adopted course of war in the presence of democratic institutions in the US. It proves that even in a democratic country, a powerful lobby can influence policies… Bush and his Zionists and hardliner Christian friends are holding White House hostage."

- Javed Jabbar, Millat Party, Hyderabad, March 31, 2003.

"We have fought three wars with India and in any of those we were never supported by the Iraqi government. A prime minister of Pakistan visited Iraq in 1989, but Saddam had refused to discuss the Kashmir issue."

- Nisar Memon, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam, Islamabad, March 31, 2003.

"America dropped bombs on Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Cuba, Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia and now in Iraq… The defence of oppressed is Jihad and it was binding on Muslim to support oppressed people."

- Maulana Fazlur Rehman, central leader of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, Peshawar, March 31, 2003.

"The US-led coalition forces attack on Iraq is a naked aggression, and the United Nations has failed to resolve the issue through diplomatic efforts… The UNO should be abandoned as it failed to fulfil its responsibilities… The arms inspectors found no clue to the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq during their three month-long stay in Iraq."

- Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Secretary-General of Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam (JuI- Fazlur Rahman faction), Quetta, March 30, 2003.

"Bush has basically started war on the basis of religion and is targeting Muslim countries one by one which must end… Pakistan is also facing dangers and the leadership should formulate internal and external policies in the best interest of Pakistan ant the entire Muslim Ummah… Osama is a Mujahid and will remain a Mujahid in future.

- Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani, Chief, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan, Islamabad, March 28, 2003.

"I never imagined that such a sophisticated, advanced country, one of the world's oldest democracies, could have its foreign policy hijacked by powerful interest groups. Under the influence of these lobbies the US is prepared to defy world public opinion, undermine the UN and invent the bizarre doctrine of preemption that could make the world a far more dangerous place to live in… In order to achieve the objective of gaining control of Iraq, the US government has had to propagate lies, half-truths and inaccuracies to such an extent that it has totally undermined its own credibility. Despite all efforts by the US government to connect Iraq with the terrorist attacks on September 11, the world remains unconvinced."

- Imran Khan, Chief of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf, Washington, March 27, 2003.

"The situation has drastically changed but the United States itself is responsible for the growing hatred against its policies… Even those who had a wavering view about the war have also changed their views now; state and private television channels have changed their tone and every survey says a vast majority in Pakistan is against the war."

- Shahid Shamsi, Spokesperson for Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, Islamabad, March 27, 2003.

"We are totally against any form of aggression and we believed that the responsibility of regime change lies with the people."

- Mamnoon Hussein, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Sharief, Karachi, March 27, 2003.

"Our first priority is to create a public opinion in favour of Iraq and against the callous attitude of the US… We will continue to maintain this pressure on the government."

- Syed Munawar Hassan, Central Secretary-General of Jamaat-e-Islami, Mirpurkhas, March 27, 2003.

"The attack on a small country without any moral or legal justification will be the most unpopular war in history… The US violated the principle that any action by any member of the international community must have support of the UN."

- Mushahid Hussain, Pakistan Muslim League-QA Senator, Islamabad, March 27, 2003.

"Does America need to be reminded that its media had displayed for days and weeks the picture of the Iraqi dead and PoWs?"

- Khurshid Ahmad, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan leader, Islamabad, March 24, 2003.

"The unleashing of a terrible war machine and the massive bombardment campaign will inevitably result in the unleashing of an equally terrible humanitarian disaster and massive civilian casualties particularly among the disadvantaged sections including the women, children and the sick and infirm."

- Mian Raza Rabbani, Acting Secretary-General, Pakistan People's Party, Islamabad, March 22.

"We condemn US-led aggression on Iraq"

- Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq, Chairman, Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz Sharief, Islamabad, March 22.

"MMA would launch a nationwide campaign to convince people not to buy American and British products, to express anger against the US attack on Iraq."

-Maulana Khalilur Rehman, Muttahhida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan leader, Peshawar, March 21, 2003.

"The US has no legal and moral ground to attack Iraq as the war is not supported by the United Nations."

- Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Muttahhida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan leader, Islamabad, March 21, 2003.

- Professor Ghafoor Ahmed, Muttahhida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan leader, March 20, 2003.

"The attack is aimed at imposing Israeli hegemony on the Middle East. It will lead to a surge in terrorism in the world."

- Prof N. D. Khan, Pakistan People's Party leader, Karachi, March 20, 2003.

"We are not asking of support for Saddam Hussain rather for the innocent people of Iraq and the whole nation is united for supporting their Iraqi brethren,"

- Syed Naveed Qamar, Pakistan Peoples Party leader, Islamabad, March 20, 2003.

"America has proved once again that it has nothing to do with peace. It has let loose a reign of terror against Muslims and other peaceful nations of the world"

- Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani, Chairman, Muttahhida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan, Islamabad, March 20, 2003.

"The suffering of the Iraqi people and the consequences of its backlash for the rest of the world demand that even the remotest of chance of a diplomatic breakthrough must be explored… As the clouds of war loom large it will only be appropriate if the Prime Minister cancels his visits abroad to be with the Pakistani people".

- Raza Rabbani, Secretary General, Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Karachi, March 19, 2003.

"If the nukes and weapons are in possession of Israel and India, they are safe but if Saddam Hussain possesses them, they are unsafe."

- Tehmina Daultana, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, Islamabad, March 19, 2003.

"Such a blatant attitude would accelerate the decline of America… But war on Iraq would further endanger the United States and defeat the whole purpose of its war on terrorism… There would be more anger against America, more bombings and suicide attacks on American interests the world over… The U.S. won't stop on Iraq, it will target other Muslim countries as well, including Syria, Iran and Pakistan."

- Munawaar Hasan, General Secretary, Jamaat-e-Islami, Karachi, March 19, 2003.

"The U.S is a threat to world peace… Bush is following a U.S. plan to capture the Muslim world. The war in Iraq will bring mass destruction… We should take a stand against the U.S. aggression, otherwise we will be the next victim of U.S. policies in the region… First the U.S. destroyed Afghanistan, now Iraq and after that Pakistan will be the target of U.S. aggression."

- Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Chief, Jamaat-e-Islami, March 18, 2003.