December 23, 2002	Monday	Shawwal 18, 1423

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LAHORE, Dec 22: The Lahore Coordination Committee of the PPP, at a meeting here on Sunday, demanded that the National Accountability Bureau be disbanded and all cases pending with it be transferred to civil courts. It further demanded that all those convicted under the NAB laws be set free without delay. Khalid Ahmed Khan Kharl presided over the meeting which was participated in by Qasim Zia, Aitzaz Ahsan, Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Altaf Qureshi, Munir Ahmed Khan and Haji Azizur Rehman Chan.

The participants alleged that under the cloak of accountability the government was victimizing its opponents. Prime Minister’s real brother, Faiq Jamali, two former Balochistan ministers and some others close to the rulers had been released though they had been convicted under the NAB laws and were undergoing their sentence.

Now, they said, there was no justification for the government to keep the remaining NAB convicts behind the bars simply because they were not related to the prime minister or powers that be.

The LCC members held that the Jamali government had failed to give an impression that it was independent in its functioning. The reiterations by the prime minister that policies followed by the Musharraf government during the past three years would be continued, substantiated this assertion, they argued.

They said Gen Pervez Musharraf was still calling the shots.

The participants decided that the PPP legislators would not give confidence vote to the prime minister on Dec 30.

Condemning the arrest of Dr Javed Khwaja and his family members by the FBI, the LCC leaders regretted that the prime minister and the chief ministers had made conflicing statements about the incident. These statements had established beyond doubt that all of them were ignorant of the real story.

They demanded immediate release of the entire family.

The LCC also decided to celebrate the birth anniversary of the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in a befittinbg manner on Jan 5. A function will be held under the chairmanship of former NA speaker Syed Yousaf Reza Gilani.

The PPP leaders also visited the residence of Mr Gilani on Sunday and praised him for the steadfastness with which he underwent his term.

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