The government in the National Assembly (NA) on Friday accused the religio-political parties of Pakistan of being involved in the terrorist activities of Al Qaeda, while the opposition tried to change the subject warned that the military operation in Balochistan might lead to another dismemberment of the country. "I don't want to go into the controversy but let me tell you that all the Al Qaeda operatives arrested (recently) were picked up from their (religious parties) regional headquarters," Federal Minister for Interior Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat stated while replying to a number of questions and allegations from the opposition on the problem in Balochistan. He alleged that the religious parties were supporting the terror activities of Al Qaeda, adding that the leaders of religious parties were 'two-faced' in politics.
No one from the Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) contradicted the interior minister's strong statement. The top leadership of the MMA including Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and Liaquat Baloch remained silent.... The interior minister strongly rejected the opposition's allegation that a military operation was underway in Balochistan. He however made it clear that the government would strike back if miscreants attacked security personnel. He said the political forces of Balochistan did not want the people to progress economically.... ...PML-N's Khawaja Asif warned that the five-year rule of General Pervez Musharraf might lead to another dismemberment of the country. The NA unanimously adopted a resolution condemning last month's suicide attack on [Finance Minister and Premier-in-waiting] Mr.
[Shaukat] Aziz. |