June 21, 2003	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 20,1424

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ISLAMABAD, June 20: Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri, Defence Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal and Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed should immediately resign after their exclusion from the delegation visiting the US and European nations with Gen Musharraf.

This was stated by the secretary-general of Pakistan Muslim League-N, Saranjum Zamindar, in a statement here on Friday.

He said by keeping the ministers out of the delegation in the foreign tour, Gen Musharraf had shown that he had no confidence in them.

He said while Gen Musharraf was holding important talks with western leaders on foreign policy and defence issues he had neither asked the relevant ministers to accompany him nor he deemed it fit to give responsibility of briefing the media to government’s spokesman Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

Mr Saranjum said Gen Musharraf had thus made it clear that he had no trust in the members of his own “puppet government”. He did not even take Prime Minister Jamali into confidence on the issues that he would discuss with western leaders, he added.

He said this was the reason that the ministers and Gen Musharraf had been contradicting each other on issues like recognition of Israel and the Chenab formula. When Gen Musharraf hinted at the possibility of division of Kashmir, the information minister contradicted him, he said.

The PML-N leader said such contradictions had made Pakistan a laughing stock. However, he said, it had now been provided beyond doubt that Gen Musharraf enjoyed absolute power while the elected government was a mere puppet with no power to take any decision.