MQM chief quits; takes back resignation

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain resigned today as chief of the party only to withdraw it hours later, citing the appeals from his partymen.
Hussain, London-based the founder of the MQM, resigned as chief of the party early today to protest Scotland Yard's raid at his house in the UK.
Following his announcement, hundreds of MQM workers gathered at Nine Zero in Karachi's Azizabad area, requesting the MQM leader to take back his resignation.
The party also announced that its workers would stage a sit-in in front of the British High Commission to protest against what the MQM chief called as a conspiracy hatched against him by the British government to unnecessarily drag him in the investigation of Imran Farooq's murder.

Farooq, co-founder of the MQM and living in exile in London since 1999, was found with multiple stab wounds and head injuries on September 16, 2010, outside his home in Green Lane, Edgware.
British police raided two homes of in north-west London in connection with the brutal murder of Farooq on June 18.

Speaking to media via telephone from UK, Hussain said Scotland Yard police had raided his residence some days ago and had seized some material, following which he decided to voluntarily step down as party leader on moral grounds.
Hussain said he would not seek legal counsel or a solicitor but would plead his case himself if he were to be produced in court in the Imran Farooq murder case. He said that he would accept any decision by the courts.

MQM is currently considered the fourth largest party in Pakistan, with strongholds in Sindh and Karachi.