Islamabad: The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has declared its opposition to what it calls the Pak-US joint military operation being carried out in the tribal areas and said it will support the tribesmen in their resistance against the "invading" forces.

Addressing workers after a meeting in Peshawar on June 23, the Central leaders of the MMA also felicitated the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) government on passing the Shariat Bill.

They accused President Pervez Musharraf of launching joint operation with American troops in the name of hunting for Taleban and al-Qaida members, something which damaged the special status of the tribesmen, says a report in 'The News'.

"Pakistan came into being after great sacrifices of our fathers. But by fulfilling every demand of his American masters, General Musharraf has actually endangered integrity and security of the country," said Maulana Fazlur Rahman, a senior MMA leader.

He told the gathering that during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, Musharraf had bluffed the nation by claiming that no US trooper would be permitted to use Pakistani airspace against Afghanistan. But, according to the recently report released by the US High Command, American forces used Pakistan airspace more than 57,800 times, the Maulana pointed out.

Similarly, he said, in the same report, the Americans revealed that Pakistan had offered 2/3 of its airspace to the US aircraft for aerial attacks to overthrow Taleban and warriors of al-Qaida network. The same American institution has also disclosed that Pakistan has faced $ 10 billion loss for joining the US alliance against terrorism, the Maulana informed.

"Now we would have to fight our war of freedom ourselves, as we can no more trust generals like Musharraf to defend Pakistan's frontiers," he remarked.

The Maulana said he still considers Americans as criminals and Taleban innocent, as the former killed thousands of innocent Afghans, while the later provided full security to their war-affected countrymen, the newspaper added.

ANI