October 3, 2003	Friday	Sha’aban 6, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: The Pakistan Bar Council on Thursday criticized the government for signing an agreement with the United States for the surrender of citizens.

In a resolution, the PBC’s executive committee said the pact was a “gross violation of the fundamental rights of the citizens.”

It said that by signing the pact, the “military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, has put the lives and liberties of the citizens of Pakistan in peril at the behest of the US government, which is bent upon victimizing the Muslims throughout the world.”

Pakistan and the US have entered into an agreement for the surrender and transfer of each others’ nationals and military personnel for any purpose.

The committee took serious notice of the signing of the pact in July, under which it has been agreed that Pakistani citizens could be handed over to the US without due process of law.

The PBC called upon the members of parliament not to ratify the pact and reject it in the strongest possible terms.

The committee’s meeting was presided over by Mohammad Kazim Khan and attended by Hamid Khan, Abul Inam, Abdul Haleem Pirzada, Malik Rab Nawaz Noon and Mian Abbas Ahmad.

The PBC condoled the death of the chief of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, and said he was the greatest fighter for democracy and constitutionalism in the history of the country. “His death has created a void in the political life of Pakistan, which will take a very long time to fill,” it said. It said the greatest tribute could be paid to Nawabzada Nasrullah by continuing his life-long struggle for democracy and constitutional dispensation.