ISLAMABAD, June 18: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Monday accused the Jamaat-i-Islami of having links with the planners of the last year’s Nishtar Park suicide attack in which 58 people were killed and several others were injured.

Speaking at a news conference, MQM’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly Dr Farooq Sattar said the Sindh home department had completed its investigation and according to its report the suicide attack in Nishtar Park was carried out by an activist belonging to a banned outfit Lashkar-i-Jhangvi.

Federal Minister for Communications Shamim Ahmed Siddiqi and MNA Abid Ali Umang were present on the occasion.

The Sindh home department on Friday released the picture of Mohammad Siddiq and named him as the suicide bomber who blew himself up on April 11 last year at Karachi’s Nishtar Park, where a congregation of Sunni Tehrik was in progress resulting in the killing of 58 people, including its top leadership.

Dr Sattar said that soon after the blast, the JI and other political parties started blaming the MQM for the incident without any proof.

He said that after the incident, JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that it was not a suicide attack and a remote-controlled device was used for the blast. He alleged that Qazi Hussain Ahmed tried to mislead the investigators by making this statement.

Moreover, he said, another JI leader Munawer Hassan had stated that suicide attacks were not against Islamic Shariah.

The MQM leader said the officials of the bomb disposal squad and the investigation teams had announced that it was a suicide attack, but Qazi Hussain Ahmed continued to insist that it was a remote-controlled bomb.

He said the statements of Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Munawer Hassan were on record and could be seen in the newspapers. He said the statements of the JI leaders proved that they were the supporters of those who had planned the attack. Dr Sattar asked the JI leadership and all other religious and political parties to apologize to the MQM and its workers for the allegation against the party.

Replying to a question, Mr Sattar expressed the hope that the MQM would also come out clean from the allegations being levelled against it for the May 12 incident in which over 40 people were killed in clashes when Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry visited Karachi.

The MQM leaders refused to comment on the statement of PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif, who claimed that it was Gen Pervez Musharraf who had come to the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asking him to declare the MQM a terrorist organisation.

The MQM leaders said that they would hold another press conference on this issue soon.