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Pakistani Government Warns Pro-Taliban Religious Parties
ISLAMABAD, Nov 1 (Islam Online & News Agencies) - Pakistan's military government warned Wednesday that it would not tolerate disruption of civic life by any group following threats of a civil disobedience movement by pro-Taliban religious parties.
President Pervez Musharraf chaired a cabinet meeting on internal security to discuss demonstrations by the religious groups protesting the U.S.-led military campaign against Afghanistan's ruling Taliban.
"It was categorically asserted by the president that under no account [will] the writ of the government be allowed to be violated by any individual or group or civil life of the country disrupted on any pretext," Musharraf's spokesman, Major General Rashid Qureshi, told a news conference after the cabinet meeting.
"Strong notice was taken of malicious and seditious statements coming from certain quarters, and it was decided that the government would proceed against such elements in accordance with the law," Qureshi added without giving more details.
Some Islamic leaders have challenged Musharraf's right to rule after Islamabad said it would cooperate with the United States against the Taliban through logistic and intelligence support.
The leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest religious party in Pakistan, have called upon the army to remove Musharraf if the government does not reverse its policy toward Afghanistan.
Musharraf, walking a political tightrope by supporting Washington, has so far been able to contain the reaction from the Islamic groups and parties, who almost daily hold protests and demonstrations across Pakistan to support the Taliban.
Anti-U.S. rallies have succeeded at winning substantial popular support in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Musharraf said Wednesday that he detects splits among Taliban supporters in Afghanistan that could open the way for a political end to the conflict.
"I do see that," Musharraf said in a television interview. "Afghanistan has suffered, the people are suffering so much that I am reasonably sure there are many people who even question the wisdom of their suffering for the sake of somebody who is there and not an Afghan, like Osama bin Laden and his people."
However, Musharraf said he accepted that the military campaign had to continue in Afghanistan and he would not press U.S. President George W. Bush at their meeting next month to halt bombing during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins around November 17.
Musharraf said his government would accept Afghan refugees if the world guaranteed payment for their expenses until they leave.
On Wednesday, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) chief, Ruud Lubbers, met in Islamabad with Musharraf, who agreed to continue accepting certain categories of vulnerable refugees.
These are defined by the UNHCR as women, children, the elderly and injured, as well as young men trying to flee forced conscription into the armed forces.
Lubbers and Musharraf also reached agreement that the so-called "invisible refugees" - the tens of thousands of people who have already entered Pakistan in recent weeks - should be assisted, preferably in the camps. Many of these refugees have settled with family members already in Pakistan.
"Mr. Lubbers stressed the importance of issuing a guarantee that such people would not be deported," the agency said. "Otherwise it would be impossible to persuade them to move to the camps where they can be properly assisted."
Additional Reporting By Aamir Latif
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