Pakistan not to welcome any UN group in future
Senator Rabbani asks foreign, interior ministries to abstain from backing international intervention in local issues.
ISLAMABAD:
The Parliamentary Committee on National Security has decided that in the future no United Nations group would be allowed to visit Pakistan to discuss “sensitive issues”.
The committee took the decision on Monday at a meeting chaired by Senator Raza Rabbani. The decision came following a recent visit to Pakistan by the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances.
Senator Rabbani asked the foreign and interior ministries to abstain from welcoming international intervention in local issues, sources privy to the committee meeting told The Express Tribune.
He was happy that the UN team was not entertained by the military leadership; saying that such a meeting would have been unnecessary.
The committee had earlier expressed serious concerns over the arrival of the UN group in Pakistan. The group has been criticised for not presenting a lucid agenda.
‘No disparity’
Senator Rabbani strongly criticised the UN group for its desire to meet with military officials. Meetings with the civilian leadership should have sufficed, he added. Any meeting with the military brass was not a part of the UN group’s itinerary.
Quashing rumours of a clash of state institutions, Senator Rabbani said, “I want to dispel the impression that there are any disparities between the political and military leaderships.”
Monday’s meeting was convened by Senator Rabbani to shape up recommendations over missing persons and have a detailed briefing from the Foreign Office and interior ministry over the UN group’s visit.
In its last meeting the parliamentary committee had summoned Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar for a briefing on the UN group’s visit. The two ministers, however, did not show up.
Senator Rabbani said the committee would finalise its recommendations over the recovery of missing persons in its next meeting slated for the third week of October.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2012.
The Parliamentary Committee on National Security has decided that in the future no United Nations group would be allowed to visit Pakistan to discuss “sensitive issues”.
The committee took the decision on Monday at a meeting chaired by Senator Raza Rabbani. The decision came following a recent visit to Pakistan by the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances.
Senator Rabbani asked the foreign and interior ministries to abstain from welcoming international intervention in local issues, sources privy to the committee meeting told The Express Tribune.
He was happy that the UN team was not entertained by the military leadership; saying that such a meeting would have been unnecessary.
The committee had earlier expressed serious concerns over the arrival of the UN group in Pakistan. The group has been criticised for not presenting a lucid agenda.
‘No disparity’
Senator Rabbani strongly criticised the UN group for its desire to meet with military officials. Meetings with the civilian leadership should have sufficed, he added. Any meeting with the military brass was not a part of the UN group’s itinerary.
Quashing rumours of a clash of state institutions, Senator Rabbani said, “I want to dispel the impression that there are any disparities between the political and military leaderships.”
Monday’s meeting was convened by Senator Rabbani to shape up recommendations over missing persons and have a detailed briefing from the Foreign Office and interior ministry over the UN group’s visit.
In its last meeting the parliamentary committee had summoned Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar for a briefing on the UN group’s visit. The two ministers, however, did not show up.
Senator Rabbani said the committee would finalise its recommendations over the recovery of missing persons in its next meeting slated for the third week of October.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2012.