News
Friday, September 06, 2013
Consensus on counter-terrorism strategyGovt to hold multi-party conference on 9th
ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to convene a multi-party conference on September 9 to evolve consensus on national counter-terrorism strategy.
Media reports said that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Thursday night contacted all key political leaders of the country and officially invited them to attend the important meeting. PTI chief Imran Khan, opposition leader in National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah of PPP, MQM’s Dr Farooq Sattar, JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman, Mehmood Khan Achakzai of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Syed Munawar Hassan, Mir Hasil Bazinjo and Allama Sajid Mir are among those who were invited by the interior minister.
The political leadership is expected to decide in the meeting whether to negotiate with Taliban militants or to use force to eradicate the menace of terrorism facing the country, reports said. Speaking at a press conference on July 4, Chaudhry Nisar said army chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and ISI DG Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam would brief the party heads on security situation in different parts of the country in the conference, officially called by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif earlier on the same date.
The minister said recommendations of political leaders would be used in formulating the security policy.
Meanwhile, it has been urged in a high level meeting on national security that NADRA and the telecommunication companies should reach a consensus on the cost of implementing the biometric system so that the process of verification of SIMs may begin as soon as possible. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan chaired the meeting to discuss the issues pertaining to national security. The meeting was attended by the Minister of State for Information Technology, Anusha Rehman, and representatives from NADRA, FIA, NCMC, PTA and Special Branch of Sindh Police.
The minister expressed his concerns on the procedure of acquiring new mobile SIMs and said that the use of unverified and unregistered SIMs is a threat to security. “No compromise will be made on this issue with cellular companies, because this matter is related to national security,” he added .He ordered establishment of a fast track system to resolve this issue permanently. This will help the authorities concerned track the activities of criminals and terrorists and take preemptive measures to stop them.
Nisar said that the current government has a good track record of being business-friendly and would do its utmost to help the telecommunication business to prosper in Pakistan; however no compromise would be made on national security. NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik informed that NADRA has the capacity to verify the SIMs by using biometric system. This will integrate the process of SIM verification with the updated NADRA database that contains all biometric information of the citizens.
The minister for IT stated that she would like NADRA and the telecommunication companies to reach a consensus on the cost of implementing the biometric system so that the process of verification may begin as soon as possible.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk