Militant chief has eye on Pakistani parliament seat

By Asim Tanveer

JHANG, Pakistan (Reuters) - The leader of a banned Pakistani militant group is standing in next week's general election and says he will fight for the reinstatement of his group if he wins a seat in parliament.

Mohammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, head of the outlawed Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan, has a good chance of winning a seat on Monday in the town of Jhang in a poor farming district in Punjab province that has been a group stronghold for years.

"This is our seat and we'll win it. No one can snatch this seat from us," the bearded cleric told Reuters in an interview at a supporter's house in Jhang as his heavily armed guards looked on.

Millat-e-Islamia, or Nation of Islam, was formed in 2002 by members of the notorious Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, a Sunni Muslim organization that was for years involved in tit-for-tat killings with militants from the minority Shi'ite Muslim sect.

President Pervez Musharraf banned the Sipah-e-Sahaba and several other militant groups in January 2002 after joining the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism following the September 11 attacks on the United States.

The U.S. also put the Sipah-e-Sahaba on its watch list of terrorist groups.

Its supporters regrouped with a new name but Musharraf, under pressure from the United States to tackle militants, banned Millat-e-Islamia in 2003.

Ludhianvi, who is running for parliament as an independent candidate, denied that his supporters were involved in militancy.

"Sipah-e-Sahaba and Millat-e-Islamia have never had any link with terrorist activities. We've always distanced ourselves from terrorism," he said.

"As far as the ban on my party is concerned, I think it was a repressive act," Ludhianvi said.

He said he was fighting the ban in the court and would also make his case in the National Assembly.

"After winning, I will raise my voice for the reinstatement of my party in parliament," he said.

Election Commission officials say Ludhianvi could not be prevented from taking part in the election unless a complaint was lodged against his candidacy.

"GIMMICK"

Ludhianvi's main rival in the election is Sheikh Waqas Ahmed, a candidate for the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League who ridiculed the government crackdown on militancy, saying it was a show put on for the West.