Nasrullah backs strike call

Declaring his political position for the first time in the ongoing Afghan-U.S. conflict, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan has announced that his Pakistan Democratic Party (PDP) would join the strike call given for November 9.

It was also announced yesterday that the PDP would be joining the Pakistan-Afghan Defence Council (PADC), made up till now almost solely of religious groups.

Political parties have, by and large, steered clear of announcing a clear-cut position on the issue, with the PDP becoming one of the first to do so.

Nasrullah, speaking yesterday, also said he was extending "full support" to the PADC and the position it had taken against U.S. air strikes on Afghanistan.

"This act is unjustifiable and we will raise our voice on behalf of the Afghan people," Nasrullah declared.

While the PDP is a member of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD), it was made clear that this stance is not necessarily that of the alliance.

Indeed, the ARD is exhibiting increased signs of serious cracks, with the Pakistan Labour Party announcing that it has quit the alliance, mainly because "it has very little relevance left now and has become ineffective." Nasrullah's own stance is also likely to create new strains within the alliance.

One of its largest component parties, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), is for instance among those groups which has largely backed U.S. action against the Taliban. The announcement by Nasrullah, one of the country's senior-most politicians, however lends respectability to the strike announced by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and other religious parties.

Indeed, while the PDP, unlike the JI, lacks a large scale membership base, it does have greater political credibility and Nasrullah's views against U.S. attacks are being taken seriously in political circles.

In an apparent effort to thwart Friday's strike, the government has announced that November 9 will be a nationwide public holiday. The day marks the birth of the poet Allama Iqbal.