Abbottabad fiasco: Civilians to take lead in handling fallout

As international pressure mounts, troika huddles to discuss how to move forward; PM to address parliament on Monday.

ISLAMABAD:

Five days after the killing of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, the president, prime minister and army chief met to discuss the security situation in the country as pressure rises against the leadership both at home and abroad.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani will also address Parliament on the matter tomorrow (Monday), a statement from the prime minister’s office said.

The meeting between Gilani, President Asif Ali Zardari and Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Saturday decided that the political leaders would now take the lead in tackling the global and domestic pressure.

However, the statement from the office of President Zardari on the meeting did not mention the Abbottabad incident. The statement also evaded the issue of recent speculation about the resignation of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pasha.

The death of the world’s most wanted terrorist in a compound so close to the country’s premier military training facility has opened the floodgates of suspicion against the intelligence services, but the political hierarchy as a whole has been largely tight-lipped about it to date.

In contrast, the military has taken a concrete stand.

It was, however, not known exactly what transpired during the meeting.

A spokesperson for Gilani told The Express Tribune that the prime minister might address the National Assembly and the Senate separately on the same day.

The decision came amid calls by politicians for resignation of both Zardari and Gilani.

The statement said Gilani also briefed Zardari about his visit to France.

After the meeting, the prime minister secretariat issued a separate statement saying Gilani held consultations with the president, defence minister, minister of state for foreign affairs and chief of the army staff on the situation arising from the Abbottabad operation. “The situation was comprehensively reviewed in the perspective of Pakistan’s national security and foreign policy”.

“The prime minister emphasised during these consultations that the sole criteria for formulating our stance is safeguarding of Pakistan’s supreme national interests, by all means, by all state institutions, in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Pakistan, who above all value their dignity and honour” the media office of Gilani said.









Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2011.