Thousands of activists from an outlawed Sunni Muslim militant group rallied in Pakistan's capital today to call for an Islamic theocracy in the country and across the world.
Activists of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) distributed pamphlets preaching jihad, or holy war, and hatred against minority Shias in Islamabad as their leaders delivered fiery speeches to a crowd of over 5,000 last night.
They also sold video compact discs of beheadings of American soldiers in Iraq and militant activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan at the rally, which they said was convened to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad this month.
One of the organisers thanked the Islamabad administration for allowing the rally, which was held under floodlights in a bus depot, with hundreds of riot police watching on.
The group is known to have close links with Jaish-e-Mohammad, a key militant group fighting in Indian-ruled Kashmir and an organisation that has forged links with al-Qaeda.
The rally was also addressed by Zaheer-ul-Islam Abbasi, a former general who was sacked and arrested in 1995 for trying to topple the government of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the military's top brass with an aim to enforce a Taliban-like rule in the country.
Last July, President Pervez Musharraf ordered a major crackdown against clerics and organisations inciting sectarian violence, having already banned SSP, or "Army of the Companions of the Prophet Mohammad", in 2002.