World | Pakistan
Parliament calls for review of terror war
Parliament has unanimously called for an "urgent review" of the policy on the war against terrorism after an in-camera debate on the issue that spanned over two weeks.
- By Shahid Hussain, Correspondent
- Published: 23:55 October 23, 2008
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Islamabad: Parliament has unanimously called for an "urgent review" of the policy on the war against terrorism after an in-camera debate on the issue that spanned over two weeks.
Members of the National Assembly and the Senate passed a resolution to the effect late on Wednesday night after a 16-member parliamentary committee comprising members of all political parties succeeded in ironing out differences to clinch a draft agreement.
Reference to Musharraf
The thrust of the resolution appeared to be that the government should avoid use of force and rely more on dialogue to establish peace in troubled areas of the North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan.
Leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the joint session of the two houses of the parliament.
"We have thrown out the policy of [former president] General Pervez Musharraf," Khan, a top leader of former premier Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) told a news conference here yesterday.
He said parliament had mandated "a policy of dialogue and peace" and hoped the government would follow it in letter and spirit keeping the national interest in mind.
The opposition leader expressed the hope that those perpetrating violent acts would respond positively to a shift in policy.
Khan said Sharif, during his meetings with US and British officials, had tried to impress on them that dialogue remained the way forward for peace in the region.
"Extremism, militancy and terrorism in all forms and manifestations pose a grave danger to the stability and integrity of the nation-state," the members said in their resolution.
"Dialogue must now be the highest priority as a principal instrument of conflict management and resolution," the resolution said. "Dialogue will be encouraged with all those elements willing to abide by the constitution of Pakistan and rule of law."
Owning up the threat
Earlier, parliamentarians spoke in one voice to condemn terrorism, which they said posed a grave danger to stability and had begun to "take ownership" of policy that aimed to tackle it.
"The good feature is they all seem to be united in saying 'this is the greatest threat'," said retired general and security analyst Talat Masood. "They own the threat at least. Previously, they had been saying this is an American war."
- With inputs from Reuters
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