Supporters of Pakistani religious party Jamiat-e-ulema-e-Islam hold images of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden during an anti-U.S. rally on the outskirts Quetta May 6, 2011. About 1,500 Pakistani Islamists protested on Friday against the killing of bin Laden, saying more figures like him would arise to wage holy war against the United States. – Reuters Photo

QUETTA: About 1,500 Pakistani Islamists protested on Friday against the killing of Osama bin Laden, saying more figures like him would arise to wage holy war against the United States.

Pre-dominantly Muslim Pakistan has yet to see any major backlash after US special forces killed bin Laden early on Monday not far from the capital Islamabad.

But his death has angered Islamists, with one major hard-line political party calling on Pakistan's government to end its support for the US war on militancy.

"Jihad (holy war) against America will not stop with the death of Osama," Fazal Mohammad Baraich, a cleric, said amid shouts of "Down with America" at a demonstration near the city of Quetta, capital of Balochistan province in the southwest.

"Osama bin Laden is a shaheed (martyr). The blood of Osama will give birth to thousands of other Osamas."

Others burned American flags.

More protests were expected after Friday prayers in Pakistan after the biggest Islamist political party, Jamaat-e-Islami, called for mass demonstrations against what it said was a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty in the US raid.

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