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Militants ask Pak to aid holy war

An Islamic militant group operating in Kashmir began a three-day meeting today in defiance of international pressure on Pakistan to rein in armed religious zealots.

Lashkar-e-Toiba is expected to issue a defiant pledge to counter ''international conspiracies'' when its annual convention ends in Muridke, near Lahore, on Friday.

The convention takes place amid growing international pressure on Pakistan and its new military rulers to rein in groups which India calls terrorists and Islamabad calls freedom fighters.

It is one of around a dozen militant groups with links to similar organisations training in Afghanistan, the sanctuary of Osama Bin Laden, one of America's most wanted men and the alleged mastermind of the horrific 1998 bombings in East Africa.

The group, an armed offshoot of the Islamic religious organisation Markaz Ud Dawa Wal Irshad Pakistan, is on a United States watch list of suspected terrorist organisations.

Lashkar-e-Toiba denies terrorism charges and says it is only fighting for oppressed Muslims in the Kashmir region.

''After rejecting the allegations of terrorism against Islamic jihad (holy war), the real terrorists will be unveiled at the convention,'' Hafiz Saeed, the head of the group, told a news conference in Lahore this week.

The annual convention attracts more than 1,50,000 followers including thousands of women but organisers say this time they expect an even larger crowd at the event in Muridke.

A Lashkar-e-Toiba statement said discussions would focus on ''international conspiracies'' against an Islamic jihad and that it would urge the new military rulers of Pakistan to reject international pressure against Muslim militants.

''We are not seeking power but we hope that the military rulers will defy pressure with regards to the mujahideen (holy warriors),'' Saeed said.

The Pakistani military took charge of the country on October 12 after overthrowing prime minister Nawaz Sharief who, weeks before the coup, had blamed sectarian violence in Pakistan on militants trained in camps in Afghanistan.

His statement marked a u-turn on the government's previously unflinching support of militants as ''indigenous freedom fighters.''

Sharief ordered militants occupying the Kargil heights to pull out in July, ending the worst showdown between India and Pakistan in more than two decades. Pakistan had claimed the infiltrators were Kashmiri militants.

Army chief General Pervez Musharraf, chief executive in the military-led government, has not repeated Sharief's allegations but has said he will not tolerate extremist elements.

''Islam teaches tolerance not hatred, universal brotherhood and not enmity, peace and not violence, progress and not bigotry,'' he said in his first policy address to the nation.

On Monday, General Musharraf told mediapersons he would not allow anyone to ''exploit Islam.''

Reuters

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