| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan studying Saudi, Sri Lankan security models |
| 2008-12-19 |
| The government is studying Saudi and Sri Lankan security models to develop a mechanism to deal with terror threats, Interior Adviser Rehman Malik said on Thursday. He was responding to comments from opposition legislators in the National Assembly. Malik contradicted reports that President Asif Zardari had told parliamentarians from FATA in a meeting on Wednesday that drone attacks in the Tribal Areas would continue and the government could not stop them. He said the report was baseless and the president had never made such a statement. The interior adviser said the parliamentary committee on national security was deliberating on a unanimous integrated policy on the challenges Pakistan was facing, and that the government was committed to defending the dignity and sovereignty of the country. Earlier, Ahsan Iqbal from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) criticised the government for not responding appropriately to Indian allegations of Pakistan's involvement in last month's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, saying Pakistan was facing security threats as a result. He called for good ties with India "but with honour and dignity as the top priority". He also asked the government to analyse the circumstances in which young people were influenced by extremists, adding that most would-be suicide bombers who had been arrested were school dropouts. Pakistan People's Party (PPP) legislator Sher Muhammad Baloch riticised the opposition and media for creating 'unnecessary hype' over the admission of Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar's daughter to a medical college. He said it was not a matter of public importance, and that the media was using it to criticise the chief justice. FATA legislaor Zafar Baig Batani asked the government on a point of order to set up a federal university in the Tribal Areas. Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi, who was chairing the House, supported his demand. |
| Posted by:Fred |