Altaf Hussain, the MQM chief who runs Karachi from London

Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain is being accused of running the affairs of Karachi and Sindh from his North London home, 5000 miles away.

London, May 14 : Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain is being accused of running the affairs of Karachi and Sindh from his North London home, 5000 miles away.

With his fiefdom descending into brutal violence, with the deaths of at least 40 people reported, Hussain is directing his followers by telephone from this safe haven, reports The Telegraph.

The MQM International Secretariat is not in Karachi, but housed in a red brick office block opposite a supermarket on Edgware High Street.

Followers of Hussain, 53, whose Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) is allied to President Pervez Musharraf's PML (Q) Government, were accused yesterday of playing a bloody part in the clashes with opposition supporters.

But Hussain told the The Daily Telegraph, that MQM activists held a "completely peaceful gathering" and that it was opposition supporters who provoked the violence, in which at least nine MQM activists were killed.

"It was a completely peaceful gathering by MQM supporters that was targeted by a collaboration of three other parties," Hussain was quoted, as saying.

Hussain, who founded the MQM in 1984 specifically to represent the Mohajirs -Muslim refugees from India -, has lived in Britain since arriving in 1992 for a kidney operation. He has since become a British citizen, while his party governs five cities and the populous Sind province.

"The situation in South Asia does not allow Pervez Musharraf to take off his uniform, for without it, he will have no power at all," Hussaid said.

"He is doing his level best to fight these groups. Musharraf is a very brave man. Only he can prevent the Talibanisation of Pakistan," he added.

When asked why Hussain was not deported to Pakistan before he was granted citizenship, a British diplomat said: "He has not committed a crime on British soil."

ANI