Pakistani protests against an expected US attack on Afghanistan spread along the volatile border region yesterday, with demonstrators burning American flags and praising Osama bin Laden.
There was anger in the scenic Swat Valley, in the north of the Afghanistan border area, as more than 1,000 people marched through Mingora in a peaceful demonstration fronted by a street-wide banner that read "Terrorist America". Organisers said they were warning the US not to attack Afghanistan for harbouring bin Laden, who has been named as the prime suspect in last week's attacks on the US. Bin Laden has denied any involvement. "There will be war until America is destroyed," one protester told Reuters. Up to 1,500 protesters also marched in Peshawar, the largest Pakistani city along the Afghan border, burning an American flag while chanting "Death to USA" and "Osama is our hero".
Around 30 riot police kept a close watch in the centre of the city, which like the entire border area is mainly populated by people of Pushto-speaking tribes like those who form the Taliban. The march was peaceful. The demonstration was organised by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI), a pro-Taliban group that has joined in suggestions by Pakistani Islamic groups that Israel was behind the devastating attacks on the US. Regional carrier Gulf Air announced it was suspending all flights to Peshawar and rerouting them to the capital Islamabad.
In the city of Rawalpindi, the head of 35 Pakistani Islamic organisations said they would have to obey any Taliban order for a religious war if the US attacked Afghanistan.