Islamic extremists urged Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf yesterday not to come to the assistance of the US in a retaliatory assault against Afghanistan, warning it could trigger a violent backlash in this Islamic country of 140 million people.
"Any aggression against Afghanistan will have very dangerous consequences and we have no choice other than to support our Islamic brethren," said Munawwar Hassan, general secretary of the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami or Islamic Party, which called for protest demonstrations against Pakistan's decision to help the US.
Musharraf's military regime has offered its "full support" to the US to any international reply to the terror attacks in the US -- effectively pledging Pakistan's soil and airspace to an assault on Afghanistan.
Now Musharraf wants to get the support of religious and political leaders and for that he began a series of meetings yesterday in Islamabad.
The emerging US-Pakistani alliance will likely test Musharraf's leadership mettle and his ability to keep Islamic militants at bay.
About 40 political parties met in Lahore, eastern Punjab's provincial capital yesterday. Several spoke out strongly against the US-Pakistani alliance against Afghanistan and others proposed a resolution to condemn the terrorist attacks against the US.
"We pray for those who died and the recovery of those who were injured," said an advance copy of the proposed resolution.
About 300 religious activists in the capital of Islamabad waved banners and shouted slogans Saturday denouncing the US and praising Osama bin Laden, the suspected Saudi terrorist who's been singled out as the prime suspect in Tuesday's terror attacks.
Pakistan's leaders traditionally tread carefully around religious sensibilities, giving Islamic clerics a wide berth in legal and civic affairs, while at the same time resisting attempts to install an Islamic theocracy.
That balancing act has extended to international affairs: Pakistan has maintained close links to the Taliban, while simultaneously seeking good relations with the West.
Analysts said Pakistan's acceptance of the latest US-wish list -- which reportedly includes allowing US ground troops into Pakistan and sharing intelligence against the Taliban -- will alter longstanding alliances in South and Central Asia.
Pakistan's close ties to the Taliban regime will likely be severed and its relations with Washington improved. Islamabad's links to the Taliban have strained relations with Washington in recent years, even though the two countries were staunch Cold War allies.
"This situation offers Pakistan the opportunity to reposition itself in the international community, wiping its image clean and getting out of the closet of international isolation," said Riffat Hussein, chairman of defense and strategic studies at Islamabad's Quaid-e-Azam University.
He said the cost of not cooperating with Washington would have been "unbearably high" because "once you get dubbed as a state sponsoring terrorism then you're doomed."
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