Govt and Army jointly formulating Swat strategy

[LahoreEstate]

LAHORE: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani has said the civil government and army are jointly formulating a strategy to overcome ongoing tension in Swat.
Talking to reporters upon his arrival at Lahore airport on Friday, PM Gilani said the foreign hand was involved in causing unrest in Swat. He said Uzbeks, Chechens, Arabs, Afghans, Taliban, militants and drug-barons were fighting in Swat. He said the terrorists, who have neither any religion nor territory, were creating unrest in Swat.
‘It is high time that the government shall re-visit its policy in Swat and develop a viable strategy,’ he added.
On the PPP and PML-N tussle in Punjab
Gillani said the PPP and PML-N were two different political parties, which had entered in a coalition based on a reconciliation formula given by Benazir Bhutto. Still, he said, both parties had different manifestoes and were working accordingly.
About Punjab government’s confrontation with the federal government, the PM said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif would be meeting President Asif Ali Zardari and he (Zardari) would himself inform about the details of the meeting.
He stressed that Punjab government must stay stable and work on resolving issues confronting its citizens. ‘Both parties must make efforts that the government should not be destabilized,’ he added.
Avoiding comment on Punjab government’s ‘official arrangements’ to welcome the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in Lahore on Saturday (today), the prime minister said that he had no objection, if anybody wanted to welcome him.
Answering a question about the ‘prospective’ disqualification of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif, the prime minister said ‘We will cross the bridge, when it will come. We cannot speculate at this point of time.’
About the use of Punjab government resources against the federal government, Gilani said the PML-N was a responsible political party, which had also passed through thick and thin, and would show maturity in its actions.
He said the people of Pakistan had voted on Feb 18 last year to bring change for the cause of democracy and against dictatorship. Now, he said, it was the duty of political parties to safeguard country’s interests from forces having malicious designs against it.
On Pak-India tensions
The PM said Indian Gujarat chief minister had seconded his stance that mere information could not be treated as evidence. He said Pakistan had no extradition treaty with India and country’s Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) needed little more attention.
‘We need to do some alterations in the ATA legislation to try a case about an offence committed in some other country,’ he said. He said there was a need to do legislation for anti-terrorist laws, but it would take time.
He said the Pakistan government would never handover it’s any citizen to any country. ‘If a Pakistani will be found involved in any subversive activity, he will be tried according to Pakistani laws,’ he added.

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