PESHAWAR, March 28 Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who led Jamaat-i-Islami for 22 years, is going to relinquish the charge of amir in the first week of April. He is being replaced by Syed Munawwar Hasan.

Mr Ahmed made the announcement at a press conference at Jamaat`s provincial secretariat Al Markaz-i-Islami here on Saturday.

He said the party`s central election commission had declared Mr Hasan Jamaat`s amir for the next term of five years.

About 23,000 party mem- bers cast their vote in the election for the top slot in which central vice-president Liaquat Baloch and JI`s NWFP president Sirajul Haq were also candidates.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who became Jamaat`s chief in 1987, said that he would continue to play a role in politics.

“I am relinquishing only the responsibility (of JI`s amir) and will remain active in politics,” he said in reply to a question.

Born in 1938 in Nowshera district, Mr Ahmed joined Jamaat-i-Islami in 1970 and was soon elected its amir for Peshawar. He also served as secretary and then as chief of the party`s NWFP chapter.

He was elected the party`s secretary-general in 1978 and made central amir in November 1987, succeeding Mian Tufail Mohammad.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed welcomed President Asif Ali Zardari`s announcement before a joint sitting of parliament that governor`s rule in Punjab was being lifted.

Mr Ahmed, however, said that JI had reservations about the reinstatement of deposed judges. He said the November 2 judiciary had not been restored as judges appointed through Provisional Constitution Order had not been removed.

He criticised US President Barack Obama`s new strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also condemned the Pakistan government for welcoming the US strategy. He rejected the US charge that Al Qaeda had training camps in tribal areas.

He claimed that Pakistan was suffering a $10 billion loss annually due to the war on terror while the US government had promised Pakistan only $1.5 billion in aid a year. Pakistan, he said, should reject the US government`s conditions and review its foreign policy.

Mr Ahmed said that America had launched a crusade against the Muslims and added that in the tribal areas alone half a million people had been displaced by the conflict.

Answering a question, Mr Ahmed said he was not against talks with India and stressed that New Delhi should accept Kashmir as a disputed territory before talks were resumed. Without accepting Kashmiri people`s right to self-determination, relations between the two countries could not improve, he added.