A Pakistani Islamist party leader on Friday demanded military ruler General Pervez Musharraf grow a beard to conform with Muslim customs.
"I like to see an army general of an Islamic country like Pervez Musharraf in a beard," Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Abdur Rehman said in his Friday prayers at a mosque in this southern port city.
"All Muslim soldiers including the generals of Pakistan's army should have beards. Cabinet ministers should have their offices in mosques to hear people grievances."
Rehman, considered a top religious scholar by his followers, also demanded Pakistan's army launch a jihad (holy war) against India to resolve their 53-year-old dispute over Kashmir.
"Jihad is the religious duty of Musharraf and other generals against the Indian army, which has killed thousands of innocent Muslim Kashmiris," he said.
"Pakistan is an Islamic country and its rulers should act like true Muslims."
The Lashkar-e-Taiba is one of the most extreme militant groups fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir, a mostly Muslim Himalayan state which was divided between Pakistan and India in 1947 but is claimed by both.
Another top Lashkar leader, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, this week called on his followers to boycott television and recorded music.
He urged Muslims not to be diverted from their battle against Jews, Hindus, Christians and communists, who he said were uniting against Islam -- KARACHI (AFP)
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