Muslim League blames agencies for killings

An emergency meeting of the pro-Sharif Pakistan Muslim League (PML) blamed sectarian killings on the agencies and alleged that the government was using them to break the party or pressure members to switch loyalties.

"We strongly condemn the involvement of agencies in politics and we understand that the failure of agencies to inform the police about possible sabotage activities has much to do with the fact that their entire focus is on breaking our party," senior leaguers Raja Zafarul Haq and Javed Hashmi said here yesterday.

The PML pro-Sharif group met in Islamabad primarily to discuss the expected meeting of the Sindh unit of the PML to elect a new leader.

But the party leaders discussed law and order, restoration of democracy and other subjects.

While the pro-Sharif group was deliberating on how to blunt moves of their rivals who are in a great rush to elect new provincial heads of the party in Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan and then go for the final kill with the replacement of Nawaz Sharif, the like-minded group was considering moves to counter their opponents' strategy.

The like-minded Leaguers met at the residence of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in Islamabad to plan their strategy to ensure that the March 11 meeting elects a new provincial head in Sindh. The meeting was extensively briefed on the resignation of Syed Ghous Ali Shah and Shujaat's meetings in Sindh with various leaders.

However, the like-minded group is beset with a major problem because of the traditional politics in the province, which has made active old players such as Pir Pagara, the mentor of late prime minister Mohammad Khan Junejo, and the suspended speaker of the National Assembly Elahi Buksh Soomro.

Both Pagara and Soomro are at daggers drawn and the latter has threatened to quit the party if the candidate backed by the former is made new party chief in the province.

Sources said that different like-minded Leaguers also discussed in detail the proposal to bring a new party head in the NWFP after election was completed in Sindh. The importance of party members from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) remained under discussion.

But while the anti-Sharif group has consensus on replacing old faces in the provinces and at the centre, it is seriously threatened internally as Ejazul has announced he would not withdraw as a candidate and would insist that he head the PML.