LAHORE:
Discounting the possibility of a security lapse in the PNS Mehran episode, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said it was a case of negligence and advised the Sharif brothers not to use the matter to gain political mileage.
He said the government was negotiating with the US on the issue of carrying out joint action against high-value targets inside Pakistan, adding that the US leadership was seriously considering Pakistan’s proposal.
Talking to media persons on his visit to condole with the parents of Lieutenant Yasir Abbas in Lahore on Sunday, he announced that the government will pay Rs5 million to anyone providing valuable information about the naval base attack.
Reminding his audience that even the US agencies, which have better spying tools, had failed to stop the execution of the 9/11 terrorist attack, Malik said that people involved in the elaborate assault on America had gotten training in the United States, bought weapons over there and moved from one city to another without any let or hindrance.
He said that PNS Mehran was the result of security negligence not outright security failure.
He said that the Sharif brothers (PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif) should not play politics on this issue.
Rejecting the possibility of eliminating terrorism by staging sit-ins and long marches, he said all political parties should consult with the prime minister if they really wanted to devise a joint strategy against terrorism. He invited all political parties to participate in a peace walk with the PPP against Taliban, drone attacks and terrorism to demonstrate national solidarity.
Highlighting Pakistan’s tremendous sacrifices in the war against terrorism, he said that the country had suffered the most and 36,000 Pakistanis, including 6,000 troops, had so far been killed.
He said that the Tehreek-e-Taliban considers both Pakistan and the US its top enemies, adding that people should try to understand the sophistication in planning and the motives behind the terrorist attack in which two navy aircraft were destroyed.
He said that Taliban, al Qaeda and other banned outfits such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for carrying out all attacks occurring in the country.
Malik reminded that when Taliban had “reached Swat and Malakand, everyone was declaring them to be the country’s worst enemy, but there were some people, especially from Punjab, who were even then declaring them to be ‘best of friends’”.
He said that now that Taliban were directly attacking the country’s integrity and sovereignty, all political parties should forge unity.
He said that terrorists had “inside support” during the attack on the PNS Mehran.
Clarifying his statement regarding the number of terrorists in which he said that there were four dead terrorists and people on the ground at that time said there were two more. He said that now, eyewitness accounts put the total number of terrorist to be six.
He said that when Navy mentioned the number of terrorists to be 12 in the FIR, he had inquired them about this discrepancy. However, he said that he “stands by the figure of six terrorists”.
He said that first he had recommended Tamgha-i-Basalat for Lt Yasir, but the prime minister had forwarded a request to the president for Nishan-i-Haider on the call of his mother.
He said that a resolution on the May 2 incident had been passed from during the joint session of parliament and according to its content an independent commission would be established.
He said that the government would not accept any deadline in this regard, adding that it would be formed in due course of time.
He said that the government was studying the PML-N’s list of names for the commission, adding that the government was in touch with other political parties as well.
Advising the PML-N to avoid point scoring on the issue, he said that PML-N should keep in mind that the joint resolution was not meant to comply with PML-N orders.
He said that political parties should mange the community briefings across the country in which the real face of terrorists should be highlighted.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2011.
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