Islamabad, March 9 (Reuters): Several thousand Islamists protested today against policies of President Pervez Musharraf, a key ally in the US-led war on terrorism, that they said are turning Pakistan into a secular state.

Shouting: ?Down with Musharraf? and ?friend of America is a traitor to Islam,? about 5,000 bearded followers of Islamic parties rallied amid Musharraf?s calls for people to combat extremism and stop the misuse of mosques and madarsas.

?The rulers want to turn Pakistan into a secular state,? Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a central leader of the six-party Islamic alliance told an emotionally-charged rally. ?But we will never allow them to do so,? he promised as the crowd cheered.

The latest confrontation between Musharraf and Islamic parties erupted after the government issued new machine-readable passports in October. In line with international standards, they do not include a column specifying the holder?s religion.

Previously, Pakistani passports required bearers to state whether they were Muslims, Christians or Buddhists. The change has enraged Islamists, who have vowed protests.

?The column of religion was removed to appease America,? said Qazi Hussain Ahmed, head of the main Islamic Opposition alliance. ?We will not accept any change in the Islamic laws. They will face strong reaction from us if they tried to do so,? he said.