November 15, 2002	Friday	Ramazan 9, 1423

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KARACHI, Nov 14: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement is inclined to be part of the federal government led by the PML-Q, sources said here on Thursday.

Dr Farooq Sattar, who held discussions with political parties and government officials in Islamabad on Wednesday, said that although nothing had been decided, there seemed to be an inclination towards the PML-Q.

It was his contention that the PPP’s cold response at the centre due to its hobnobbing with the MMA was also a factor in the evolution of this perception.

He said that everything depended on the the responses to the MQM concerns vis-a-vis “no-go areas” and the guarantee that past mistakes would not be repeated.

He said that the work of new government would become much easier if the concerns of the MQM were addressed in the transition period.

Dr Sattar said that there had been some progress in their talks with government with regard “no-go areas.”

When asked to comment on reports about the resignation of Aftab Shaikh, who until recently was the senior deputy convener of the MQM coordination committee, the position now being enjoyed by Dr Sattar, he said that there was no truth in it.

Dr Sattar said that before the coordination committee was reshuffled by Altaf Husain, every member of the coordination committee had submitted their resignations to facilitate in the decision-making. They were turned down, he said, adding: “There is no truth in reports about Aftab Shaikh.”

Aftab Shaikh was not available to confirm or deny the report.