Thousands of protestors poured into the streets of Pakistan today following the arrest of a senior Islamic cleric amid speculation the United States is about to launch a military strike against neighbouring Afghanistan.
In central and northern Pakistan, up to 7,000 protestors shouted "Death to America" and demanded the release of Mr Fazlur Rahman, head of the fundamentalist Jamiat-UlemaIslam (JUI) party.
Mr Rahman was placed under house arrest earlier today.
He has called for a jihad, or holy war, against the United States and led anti-US rallies across the country since the September 11 destruction in New York and Washington.
In Multan, central Pakistan, more than 6,000 people chanted "Long Live Taliban" and "War against America will continue until its destruction," as they crowded a shopping area before marching to a public park.
The gathering was addressed by local religious leaders who rejected evidence linking Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden to the suicide attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center as "US propaganda."
A JUI spokesman said authorities wanted to prevent the pro-Taliban and anti-US gathering which Mr Rahman had planned in Multan, a major city in the populous Punjab province.
The JUI leader, in speeches to previous rallies, had strongly attacked Pakistani President Mr Pervez Musharraf for extending support to the US-led campaign against terrorism.
Mr Rahman has also denounced British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair's announcement in Islamabad on Friday that Britain and Pakistan had agreed on the need for a "broad-based government" to replace the Taliban.
Another 500 JUI supporters staged a demonstration outside a mosque in northwestern Peshawar to press the party's demand for Rehman's release.
But in southwest Pakistan, some 3,000 protestors marched through the streets of Quetta to distance themselves from the Taliban regime and call for peace talks to install a broad-based government in Kabul.
Protestors in Quetta carried the former flag of King Mohammad Zahir Shah, and demanded he head a Loya Jirga, a special meeting of Afghan religious, tribal and ethnic leaders.
AFP