ISLAMABAD, Oct 18 (News Agencies) - Maulana Tahirul Qadri, controversial leader of the Pakistani Awami Tehrik Party, condemned Osama bin Laden and appealed to the Taliban leadership not to risk thousands of lives for him.
Towing a marked different line from other Pakistani religious parties, Qadri also criticized the Taliban for giving refuge to bin Laden.
"Bin Laden is not a prophet that we should put thousands of lives at risk for," he said.
He urged Muslims to "see the difference between jihad [struggle] and acts of terrorism."
"Bombing embassies, or destroying non-military installations like the World Trade Center, is no
jihad," Qadri said, and "those who launched the September 11th terrorist attacks not only killed thousands of innocent people in the United States, but also put the lives of millions of Muslims across the world at risk."
"Now the Americans are killing Afghans ... they may go for other targets too. Who knows how many innocent Muslims will be killed because of those terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center?"
He urged the United States to stop its air strikes in Afghanistan and held the Taliban rulers responsible "for the death of hundreds of innocent Afghans".
Qadri, who has thousands of followers in Pakistan and abroad, further acknowledged that the United States has credible evidence about bin Laden's involvement in acts of terrorism.
"In the light of this evidence, the Taliban had no justification for continuing to protect bin Laden. Why protect him? Is he a saint or a prophet? He is a man who himself has admitted arranging car-bomb attacks on U.S. embassies. He is no saint."
