Pakistanis reject Bin Laden’s ‘interference’

A call from Osama bin Laden for holy war against Pakistan’s president and army found resonance on Friday among some in Pakistan’s conservative northwest but others rejected the cry for jihad as “interference”.

Al Qaeda has in the past called for the assassination of Musharraf whose war-on-terror alliance with the United States is deeply unpopular in Pakistan, even among the vast majority who abhor militant violence. Peshawar shopkeeper Gulfaraz said he did not support bin Laden: “He just wants to create chaos which is un-Islamic.”

In the eastern city of Lahore, Pakistan’s cultural centre, bin Laden’s call for jihad was widely condemned. “Osama has no right to issue such statements,” said Punjab University student Maryam Ali.