Muslim orgns protest Israeli bombing in Lebanon

Bangalore, Aug 1: Members of more than 25 Muslim organisations, including women, staged a demonstration here today condemning the Israeli bombing in Lebanon in which scores of civilians including women and children, were killed.

''The Israeli onslaught is a crime of the gravest proportions not just against the Lebanese and Palestinian people, but an affront to humanity itself. It is a challenge to all people who stand for peace and justice,'' Coordinator Muhammad Yusuf Kanni said in a release here.

''Indian people cannot and will not tolerate this barbaric aggression against other people. With one voice we denounce the Israeli aggressors and their US imperialist backers and demand that Israel immediately and completely halt its aggression and withdraw its forces from Lebanon.'' In a letter addressed to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, a copy of which was released to the press, Mr Kanni urged him to ensure that immediate steps were taken to stop fighting from both the camps, conduct an inquiry into inhuman killings and use of weapons by Israel authorities, expedite humanitarian relief works, penalise the US for supplying the banned weapons of war and punish Israel by imposing restrictions on it.

He also urged the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre to come out openly in protest against the killings and break off all military ties with Israel.

Mr Kanni had also dashed off letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, US Ambassador to India and the Israel Ambassador to India urging them to take steps to stop inhuman aggression by the Israeli forces.

UNI