LAHORE, April 16: MMA president Qazi Husain Ahmad says the religious alliance is finalising modalities of an interim set-up before giving a final call for a mass movement to oust the present regime.

He was replying to reporters’ queries after opening of a three-day training convention of Jamaat-i-Islami’s district and tehsil level leaders at Mansoora here on Sunday.

The Qazi said finalising these modalities was more important than discussing electoral adjustments with the ARD as the latter task was premature in the current scenario.

He said the final call for the mass protest also depended on evolving a strategy for ousting the incumbent army ruler.

Gen Musharraf’s alleged actions against ideology of Pakistan and Islam could only be blocked by ousting him from power through a peaceful mass movement, he said.

The MMA leader questioned the government’s claim of nabbing culprits of the Nishtar Park blast by saying that “it has not been able to arrest the killers of Aslam Mujahid of the JI and Hakeem Saeed, therefore, veracity of its claim is nothing but a rhetoric for media consumption.”

Earlier opening the convention, Qazi Husain said the US plan to combat terrorism was a declaration of war against Islam as American actions in the name of curbing terrorism had so far been centred on crushing Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine.

The Aga Khan Foundation, he alleged, had been given the task of scrapping the ideology of jihad from young minds and making them secular.

He said the foundation was being provided all men and material support by the government. The budget of a single foundation, which is commercial in nature, was double than the education budget of Pakistan.

The Qazi said US president Bush had termed political Islam the biggest rival of Washington because this philosophy strives to implement the Divine commandment in the day to day life of common man and proponents of the secular society cannot tolerate it.

The JI leader pointed out that the objective resolution stated in the constitution provided sufficient ground to practice political Islam in Pakistan.

Speaking on this occasion, naib amir Prof Ghafoor Ahmad traced the history of military rule in Pakistan and termed it the real cause behind all ills.

He said the “imprudent” policies being pursued by Gen Musharraf had compounded the situation in Balochistan and NWFP tribal areas.