KARACHI, Oct 11 (Reuters): A leading radical Islamic group in Pakistan said today it had issued a call for people to protest against the arrival of US military personnel at Jacobabad in Southern Sindh province.
"We have appealed to the people to observe tomorrow as a protest day against the presence of American aircraft and troops at Jacobabad airfield," Dr Abdul Ghani Ansari, general secretary of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI) in Jacobabad, told Reuters.
He said security in the area was very tight and a number of senior religious leaders and activists were being closely monitored by the police.
Pakistan said today US military personnel had arrived in the country but stressed it was committed to providing only logistical support, and not combat facilities, for the US,led strikes on Afghanistan.
Military ruler general Pervez Musharraf has been walking a political tightrope as he offers support to the US war on terrorism and grapples with swelling unrest, especially among radical pro-Taliban Islamic groups.