News
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Nine areas identified for Karachi ‘operation’
* PM says all political forces should support govt on Karachi issue
* Tells cabinet across the board action against gangsters and target killers only option
ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet was informed on Wednesday that nine areas had been identified in Karachi where action would be taken against the target killers, as a handful of people could not be allowed to make the country hostage.
Briefing the media after a meeting of the federal cabinet, Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Firdaus Ashiq Awan said that Prime Minister (PM) Yousaf Raza Gilani took the cabinet into confidence on the situation of Karachi and the steps being taken to alleviate the situation.
She said that the federal cabinet endorsed the steps being taken by the Sindh government for dealing with the miscreants in Karachi.
The information minister quoted the prime minister as saying that the government was aware of the situation in Karachi and that all political forces should support the city regarding the issue.
Gilani told the cabinet that there was no option except to take action to eliminate terrorists and target killers in the provincial capital. He said that action would be across the board as “we are only concerned for the well-being of Pakistan”.
Dr Firdaus said that the PM also took the cabinet into confidence on the steps being taken by the government to end load shedding in the country.
The information minister said that the cabinet had also given approval to the financial document for 1,000-megawatt power projects of Checho Ki Malian and Nandipur so that they should be completed in time, as the nation needed each megawatt to get relief from the loadshedding.
Separately, Dr Firdaus said that since the law and order was a provincial matter, the federal government could not unilaterally call out the army in Karachi.
Replying to the questions of the media, she said that the Sindh government wanted to utilise the services of Rangers, police and other civil law enforcement agencies to restore peace in the troubled city.
The information minister said that the government was striving for a political solution to the Karachi situation, as army operations in Karachi in the past had not delivered desired results.
Responding to another question, Dr Firdaus said that it was the right of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leadership to decide when they wanted to rejoin the coalition government in the Centre and the province. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk