August 9, 2003	Saturday	Jumadi-us-Sani 10, 1424

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PESHAWAR, Aug 8: Former federal minister Owais Ahmad Ghani has confirmed that he has been nominated as the next governor of Balochistan to succeed Lt Gen Abdul Quadir Baloch.

Mr Ghani, who was federal minister for labour in the Musharraf-led military government and later minister for industries in the NWFP until before the October general elections, met President Musharraf and senior government officials on Wednesday and was briefed on his new assignment.

A formal notification is yet to come, but Mr Ghani confirmed his nomination to Dawn . “I was sounded out on the matter a few days ago. I sought a couple of days to think it over and later I confirmed my availability and consent”, he said.

Mr Ghani said that he had been put on notice and would proceed to Quetta in a day or two to take up his new assignment. He said that the president clearly indicated to him his commitment regarding the continuation of the government in Balochistan and the democratic process in the country. “He wants the system to work.”

A mechanical engineer by profession, 52-year-old Owais Ghani is a Kakar Pushtun by tribe, whose ancestors had migrated from Ghwara Margai in Kandahar in southwestern Afghanistan to Muslim Bagh in Zhob district of Balochistan before migrating to Peshawar in the late 1880s to escape a blood feud.

One reason why Lt Gen Quadir was shown the door, a highly- placed source said, was that he hailed from the relatively small Zehri tribe in Balochistan and he could not play his role effectively keeping in view the dominant influence of the much stronger sardars of other major tribes.

The source said that there were only two names on the panel that were considered for the job in Balochistan. The other was that of incumbent Corps Commander Lt Gen Ali Jan Orakzai.

The names of Maulana Shirani or that of Malik Sikandar were not discussed, the source maintained. “The change in Balochistan has nothing to do with the ongoing talks with the MMA. It is not even remotely associated with a possible deal with the MMA”.

The source discounted the possibility of an immediate gubernatorial change in the NWFP. The source said it so happened that the day Lt Gen Quadir resigned as governor of Balochistan, NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah had a meeting with President Musharraf. “It was a courtesy call and nothing else,” the source said, but it led to speculation that a change was also due in the Frontier.

The source said that Governor Iftikhar was proceeding on a private visit abroad along with his family and the meeting was aimed at seeking President Musharraf’s consent. “It was a mere coincidence that the day Gen Iftikhar met with the president, the Balochistan governor resigned.”