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Saturday, April 02, 2011
Govt ready to give in-camera briefing on terrorismStaff Report
ISLAMABAD: The government is ready to give an in-camera briefing to the members of parliament on the ongoing wave of terrorism in the country, Leader of the House, Syed Nayyer Hussain Bukhari, informed Senate on Friday.
Responding to the viewpoints of members of the House on the second terror attack on JUI-F chief Maulana Fazalur Rehman, he condemned the incident and said that adequate security was provided to Rehman that was evident by the fact that security officials were also killed in the incident.
He assured the members that the government was willing to conduct a joint investigation into both the bids to assassinate Rehman.
Senate chairman, in his ruling, asked Bukhari to conduct a thorough probe into the incident and submit the report to the House within a week. The House passed a unanimous resolution condemning the attack on the JUI-chief and demanded the government to set up a high-level commission to investigate the incident.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) Senator Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidari, who moved the resolution, said that attack on Fazal was on the same pattern as the one which was carried out against Benazir Bhutto (BB) at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi. “Firing preceded the blast akin to the attack that targeted BB in 2007,” he said.
Professor Khursheed Ahmed said that the country’s foreign policy should be reviewed, which he believed had been causing terrorism in the country.
Hafiz Rasheed Ahmed said that the present terrorism was rooted in the proxy war the country was fighting at the behest of foreign powers. Talha Mehmood demanded an independent inquiry into the terrorist attacks by a high-level commission and said that the Interior Ministry should inform the House about the security provided to Rehman.
Abdul Rahid Mandokhel said the country’s biggest problem was terrorism and all Pakistanis wanted to know who was responsible for these suicide attacks and acts of terrorism. “There is a need to identify perpetrators of the terrorist attacks and bring them to justice,” he opined.
Haji Lashkari proposed that that the JUI-F chief should convene a conference of religious scholars and clerics to send a strong message to the people against suicide attacks and terrorism. Zahid Khan said that government alone could not deal with terrorism and that concerted efforts were required to root out the menace.
Naeem Chattha said that continuous incidents of terrorism were a source of grave concern and needed to be dealt with sternly.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk