ISLAMABAD, March 2: Opposition parties have announced two days of protests, on Friday and Saturday against the publication of blasphemous cartoons in European newspapers and US President George W Bush’s visit to Pakistan.

They had earlier given a call for a countrywide strike on Friday under the aegis of Namoos-i-Risalat, but on Thursday they announced that a ‘black day’ would be observed on Saturday when US President Bush would arrive in Pakistan.

The People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP), which is supporting the strike called on the cartoon issue, said it would not attend any anti-Bush protest rally on Saturday.

A spokesman for the Jamaat-i-Islami, Shahid Shamsi, said there would be no violence during the protests. He said opposition groups would ensure that the strike and the protest rallies remained peaceful. He blamed the government for the incidents of violence during recent demonstrations in Lahore and Peshawar.

Mr Shamsi said that although the strike call was initially given by the MMA, all opposition parties had announced their support for it. Besides, he said, they also had the support of the whole Muslim world and protests would also be organised in the US and the UK.

Information Secretary of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) Akbar S. Babar said: “The PTI will be part of the shutter-down strike on Friday but we will endeavour to make a stronger statement on March 4 when the party chief, Imran Khan, will lead a rally from Rawalpindi to Islamabad. We have invited everybody to join it.”

Mr Babar said: “While President Bush claims to advocate democracy, he is supporting a general in uniform here in Pakistan. Lack of democracy has led to the failure of democratic institutions in the country.”