Pakistan cleric charges condemned

Fazlur Rehman: Faces death penalty

Members of a hardline Islamic party in Pakistan have condemned the government's decision to put their leader on trial for treason.

Fazlur Rehman, a vocal ally of the Taleban who leads the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islami (JUI) party, was charged on Tuesday after calling on his followers to attack members of Pakistan's armed forces.

Mawlana Ghulam Sarwar, a member of the JUI executive committee, told the BBC that the decision was unjust.

He said that Mr Rehman had doing his patriotic duty and that it was the government that ought to be put on trial.

Pakistan's President, General Pervez Musharraf, has come down hard on religious opponents of his policy of support for the American air strikes on Afghanistan.

Campaign warning

The group's chief spokesman, Riaz Durrani, was quoted by AFP as saying they would launch a nationwide campaign against the decision on Friday.

Earlier, the group's General Secretary, Abdul Jalil Jan, said the charges had been brought "at the behest of America".

"The government will now be responsible if there are any violent protests," he said.

Mr Rehman had been released from a week of house arrest on Sunday.

He could face the death penalty if found guilty.

'Bold' Pakistan

The attacks on Afghanistan are aimed at uprooting Osama Bin Laden - prime suspect for the attacks on the US and his Afghanistan Taliban allies - but have enraged Pakistan's small but militant religious groups.

A helicopter carrying a senior Pakistani general was attacked by a crowd of JUI supporters on Sunday when it tried to land near the Pakistani border with Afghanistan.

General Musharraf said on Tuesday that Pakistan will co-operate with the United States as long as the military campaign in Afghanistan lasts.

After talks in Islamabad with the American Secretary of State, Colin Powell, General Musharraf also outlined his vision of a future government in Afghanistan, which he said should be broad-based, including moderate members of the Taleban.

Mr Powell praised what he called General Musharraf's bold action.