30K jihadists demand the government cut ties with the U.S.

Fine.  When can we start.  No more money to Pakistan, ever.


From ABC News December 18 by Ashraf Khan

Pakistani President Returns From Medical Treatment

Pakistan's president returned home early Monday, nearly two weeks after a surprise trip to Dubai for medical treatment sparked rumors that he might step down under pressure from the country's powerful military.

President Asif Ali Zardari's arrival will likely help quell speculation about his future. But officials have not spelled out exactly what was wrong with the president, and he is still under threat from a memo scandal that has upset the army and already forced the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S. to resign.

Zardari's plane landed at an air base in the southern port city of Karachi shortly after midnight, said Manzoor.

Wassan, the home minister in Sindh province where Karachi is the capital.

(...)More than 30,000 Islamists rallied against the U.S. in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday, demanding Islamabad cut off ties with Washington. The protest highlighted the ability of hard-liners to bring their supporters into the streets, as well as lasting anger over the attack, which has complicated U.S. efforts to enlist Pakistan's cooperation on the Afghan war.

The U.S. has expressed its condolences for the airstrikes, but this has done little to calm anger in Pakistan's military, which has claimed the attack was deliberate. Pakistan has already retaliated by closing its Afghan border to supplies meant for NATO troops in Afghanistan and kicking the U.S. out of an air base used by American drones.

"All agreements (with the U.S.) should be terminated," Hafiz Saeed, the head of the group that organized Sunday's protest, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, told the crowd. "We say all agreements terminated the day the attack happened."

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