by Ahmar Mustikhan May 6, 2009
The DC-based American Friends of Baluchistan has congratulated the brotherly Baloch International League for the rally in front of the White House on Wednesday to expose Pakistan army brutalities against Baluchistan.

"Former Speaker Waheed Baloch, government minister Dr. Tara Chand and Waja Razzaq Baloch, must be commended for their decision to bring the Baluch issue to the attention of the world. The A.F.B. will side with Speaker Waheed Baloch or any other secular Baluch organization through thick and thin," AFB presiding council members Mohammed Ali Baloch and Waja Karim Bakhsh, formerly of Qatar,said in a statement on Thursday.

Speaker Baloch had planned the rally at the UN headquarters in New York against the killing of his close friend Waja Ghulam Mohammed Baloch by Pakistan's secret services, but shifted the venue to Washington DC in view of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's arrival, along with the chief of the infamous Inter Services Intelligence Lt. Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, in Washington D.C. for talks with President Barack Obama.

Ghulam Mohammed Baloch, 45, was abducted along with Lala Munir Baloch, 50, and Sher Mohammed Baloch, 35, by Pakistan's infamous Inter Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence, shot in the head and their bodies dropped from a military helicopter in the outskirts of Turbat last month.

Speaker Waheed Baloch and Dr. Tara Chand were close friends of the slain leader Ghulam Mohammed and had worked with him in the secular and progressive Baloch Students Organization, the main voice of Baluch youths and students. The BSO has thousands of supporters.

"Passers-by showed great interest in the rally," said Professor Jawaid Bhutto, a friend of Baluchistan in Washington DC, who attended the rally.

Bhutto said Afghan President Hamid Karzai turned around to look at the protesters curiously.

The two A.F.B. leaders said the Baluch have to be vigilant against paid agents who try to erect a fifth column in the Baluch international movement for their personal gain. "The A.F.B. vows to unmask the faces of such elements," the two leaders said.

The A.F.B. also thanked Munnawar Laghari, former director of the World Sindhi Institute, for his help, attendance and speech at the Baloch International League rally.

The A.F.B. has a simple two-point agenda: right of national self determination for the Baluch people and ending Pakistani and Iranian military occupation of Baluchistan.

[Text of Speaker Waheed Baloch speech to be posted shortly].