“The situation has drastically changed but the United States itself is responsible for the growing hatred against its policies,” Shahid Shamsi, spokesman for the main religious front Muttahida Majlis-e Amal (MMA) told AFP.

The MMA is a powerful religious bloc of six political parties which rules the North West Frontier Province and holds 18 percent of seats in the lower house of federal Parliament.

So far popular opinion has forced Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali to postpone a visit to the United States. A government announcement acknowledged the cancellation of the March 26-28 trip “in deference to the sentiments of the people.”

The government also canceled the national day parade last Sunday when a crowd of about 200,000 people swarmed the eastern city of Lahore in the biggest anti-war rally so far seen in the country.

The MMA had staged huge rallies in Karachi, in the country’s south, and Rawalpindi, in the north, before the war began. But the public response to its Lahore rally three days after coalition forces began pounding Iraq was a “total surprise for us,” Shamsi said.

“Even those who had a wavering view about the war have also changed their views now; state and private television channels have changed their tone and every survey says a vast majority in Pakistan is against the war.”

People are venting their anger daily from Karachi to the remotest tribal villages in the north, he said. “Even women and blind students took to the streets amid a countrywide frustration,” he said. “We are very happy that the Christian community the world over has fully backed the calls to end the war, that is why there is no retaliation in Pakistan.”

Shamsi said he believed it was not a war against Muslims. “It will unite the Arabs, Muslims and the free world and it will no longer remain a unipolar world,” he said.

Senior MMA leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman has called on people to boycott American and British products and urged Arab countries to stop oil supplies to the pro-war countries.

Pakistanis are already protesting against popular US fast food outlets, McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). “I have seen handbills in Lahore showing a burger stuffed with a body of an Iraqi baby instead of beef and blood oozing out of its loaves instead of tomato ketchup,” Shamsi said.

Representatives of civil society have called for the boycott of American and British products and franchises in a mark of protest against the US-led attack on Iraq.

“At the moment, this is the best way to bleed the aggressors (the US and its allies). Our target is the American corporate interests and it’ll be our endeavor to hurt this interest as much as possible,” A.H. Nayyar, head of the Citizen Peace Committee (CPC), told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, following his organization’s meeting.

CPC is an alliance of different non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and peace and civil movements in Pakistan.

He said a mass awareness campaign against the use of US products would be started all over the country and people from various walks of life, especially students, would be involved in it.

“We welcome if religious parties join this awareness campaign,” Nayyar said. An alliance of six religious parties — Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) — had already called for the boycotting of US products.

Various internationally known American franchises like McDonalds, KFC and Subway have outlets in big towns including Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.

In northwestern Peshawar, some 1,600 university students blocked the highway leading to Kabul in the latest protest yesterday.

“Bush is sucking the blood of Muslims. Pakistanis should boycott US products,” student leader Naveed Anwar told the rally.

In central Multan 1,000 people staged a protest outside a KFC restaurant, demanding its closure and the boycott of US products including soft drinks.

Another crowd of some 500 people joined a lawyers protest in southwestern Quetta demanding the withdrawal of Anglo-American troops from Iraq.