America at War: Final countdown: TAUGHT TO HATE: GUN BOY AGED 3

KITTED out in his camouflage combat gear and brandishing his mini AK-427 toy gun, tiny Rafiq looks ready for battle.

Just three-years-old, he should be playing with his toy cars, cuddling his mum and marvelling at the wonder of the world around him.

But unlike other toddlers, Rafiq is learning the dreadful reality of conflict as the US stands on the brink of strikes against Afghanistan.

His father Muhammad Jafar, 24, proudly predicts that one day Rafiq will be prepared to sacrifice his own life to defend Islam.

In fact, he relishes the thought.

He said: "Of course, I am ready to die for Allah. I will do whatever my god wishes of me. I am a father and I love my son. In future years, Rafiq will be willing to give his life too. He has a toy gun now, but one day it will be real."

Rafiq and his father were among the 6,000-strong crowd who joined an anti-US protest in Rawalipindi. The protest was one of dozens staged across the country as part of a nationwide strike organised by extremist parties to cripple Pakistan.

In one of the protests, in Karachi, three people were killed, including a shopkeeper lynched because he failed to close his store.

While most children his age shy nervously away from crowds, Rafiq was a picture of happiness in the throng. He even held his pistol as high as he could stretch to join in the hysterical cheers which greeted the burning of an effigy of the US President and the Stars and Stripes, just yards from where he was cradled in his father's arms.

At a run-down news-stand on the corner of the main square, the headline of the Sahafat newspaper screams: "Farewell Osama, Our Hero - Have a Great Life in Chechnya". It refers to the mountainous former Soviet republic where bin Laden and his elite group of a dozen disciples are believed to have fled last Monday.

The Sahafat also claims that although bin Laden - or Osama as they affectionately call him - may no longer be in Afghanistan, Bush is still hell bent on bombing the Afghans.

The demonstration began in the blazing heat just after 2.30pm on Friday, as crowds streamed from Rawalipindi's giant central mosque after their hour-long prayer recitals.

Throughout the protest, slogans were chanted accusing Pakistan's President General Perez Musharraf of betraying his countrymen by offering strong support for the US.

Sagid, 17, a medical student who took part in the protest said: "Musharraf is a disgrace. He has sold his brothers for a few dollars."

His friend, fellow student Atifkhar, 18, added: "There's no proof Osama was involved in the attacks. To support America is to insult Islam."

But not everyone in Pakistan is clamouring fervently to join Osama's army.

Last night, Taliban units moved from home to home, taking one male from each family as an unwilling conscript. They were carrying copies of Kalashnikovs - the sort of gun little Rafiq wants one day.

Copyright 2001 MGN LTD
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