COAS to give in-camera briefing to political leaders on Swat today

[Naveed Yaseen]

APC convened on Monday
* Leaders from all parties in and outside parliament invited
* Chiefs of PML-Q, PML-F and JI confirm participation

By Irfan Ghauri

ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani will today (Friday) brief the parliamentary leaders in the National Assembly on the ongoing military operation in Malakand division.

The in-camera briefing will be held at the Prime Minister’s House where General Kayani will brief them about “the operational aspects” of the offensive, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar Awan told the National Assembly on Thursday.

Awan said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has also convened an all parties’ conference (APC) on Monday to discuss “issues of national security with a special focus on Swat and Malakand division”. Other issues including the situation in FATA and Balochistan would also be discussed.

He said the decisions to convene the APC and to conduct the briefing on the Swat operation were made in a meeting chaired by the prime minister on Wednesday. Federal ministers Syed Khursheed Shah and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf also attended the meeting.

He said the APC would be held at the Prime Minister’s House at 10am in which leaders of all political parties inside and outside the parliament have been invited.

Babar Awan said the government was ready to convene the APC but it was delayed because the leaders of various parliamentary parties were not in Pakistan. “The APC is being convened in consultation with the entire political leadership,” he said.

On the issue of internally displaced persons (IDPs), the minister said government departments related to disaster management and social welfare were already operating in all the 12 relief camps

Participation: Later, Awan told reporters that PML-F chief Pir Pagara, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Munawwar Hasan, and PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had confirmed their participation in the APC.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2009_pg1_1