Musharraf opponents give strike call in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Monday (Reuters) Pakistan's opposition called for a country-wide strike to press their demand for the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf.

The strike call was given at a meeting of opposition groups hosted by the main Islamic alliance and was also attended by secular groups, including the Pakistan Peoples' Party of self-exiled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Opposition protest is unlikely to pose any serious challenge to the government led by Musharraf which enjoys comfortable majority in the parliament but the move shows growing cooperation between the opposition groups.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed, chief of the opposition Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Islamic alliance, said the opposition would launch a public campaign to force Musharraf to step down both as president and army chief of staff.

"The opposition will launch a country-wide protest campaign if General Musharraf and his government would not resign," Ahmed told a news conference in Islamabad. "We will start our campaign against President Musharraf on Sept 9. A countrywide strike will be observed."

The Islamic alliance in 2003 supported Musharraf's bid to wield enormous power by voting in favour of controversial constitutional changes in the parliament in return for his pledge to stand down as army chief by the end of 2004.