Radical leader says West may have 'engineered' bomb blasts
A senior leader from a coalition of radical Islamic political parties today said the attacks in London might have been orchestrated by the West as a strategy to turn public opinion against Muslims, a claim sure to produce outrage around the globe.
“This is very tragic,” said Liaqat Baluch, a prominent politician from the six-party Islamic coalition that comprises the main opposition to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
“But this could also be a strategy by Europe and America to line up against Muslims. They are directly saying Muslim groups or al-Qaida are behind these bombings. Then how can it be ruled out that these are not engineered blasts?” he said.
When asked again if he was actually charging the British or American governmnts of having a hand in the bombings, Baluch said: “This can not be ruled out. All countries do this to project their people as victims.”
Baluch demanded an “impartial investigation”.
The Islamic MP’s comments came a day after Musharraf called for a joint fight against terrorism following the London attack, which he vehemently condemned. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed today refused to comment on Baluch’s remark. A British Embassy spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
Most Pakistanis reacted with horror to the news. Many have relatives in London, and the two nations remain historically linked nearly 60 years after the British quit the region upon the partition of the subcontinent into Pakistan and India.
Newspapers in Pakistan today splashed news of the London bombings as their top headlines.
“Apocalypse London” was the front page headline of The News, the nation’s largest English-language daily. The lead editorial in the paper read: “Al-Qaida strikes in London’s heart”.
The newspaper condemned the bombings and said: “The London attack has brought the war home that Britain has so far been fighting in far off Iraq.”
Baluch is the deputy head of Jamaat-e-Islami, the main group in a six-party coalition of Islamic political parties called Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, or United Action Forum. The coalition has the second largest block in Pakistan’s parliament, and control or partial control of two of the nation’s four provinces.
The group has been vocal in its opposition to the US-led war against terrorism, and Musharraf’s decision to ally Pakistan with the fight.
Baluch said terrorism “is increasing” and the international community, especially America, should find out the causes of terrorism and “address them with justice”.
Islamic groups oppose US support for Israel and want Washington to pull troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
In a message to British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday, Musharraf, said: “It is imperative that we stand together and further strengthen our bonds of cooperation to eliminate this menace.”
Musharraf has outlawed several homegrown militant groups – some with links to the Taliban and al-Qaida – in line with a policy to eliminate extremism from the conservative Muslim nation.
He has survived at least three attempts on his life, which authorities say al-Qaida was behind.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who also survived a suicide bomber’s assassination bid, also expressed grief over the “shocking news of the bomb explosions in central London”, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement late yesterday.
