October 20, 2003	Monday	Sha'aban 23, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 19: The government is not likely to resume talks with the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) on the outstanding issues of LFO before the return of PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain from abroad, sources told Dawn on Sunday.

Three top leaders of MMA, Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani, Maulana Fazlur Rahman and Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who attended the president’s banquet in honour of the visiting crown prince of Saudi Arabia late Saturday night, came back from the presidency with only a handshake with Prime Minister Jamali.

MMA president Maulana Noorani told Dawn on Sunday that the guests had to wait for well over two hours for the formal banquet to start as Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz had remained in a closed-door meeting with Gen Musharraf and Prime Minister Jamali. And after the banquet no emissary from the PM approached the MMA leaders, so they left without having any talks with Mr Jamali.

The prime minister himself is embarking on a four-day official visit to Iran from Tuesday. Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, who left the country for Germany reportedly for his medical treatment a few days back, is not likely to return home before the advent of the holy month of Ramazan, party sources said.

Meanwhile, senior MMA sources said the delay in the Majlis’s planned deadline was, in part, caused by the murder of banned Sipah-i-Sahaba chief Maulana Azam Tariq.

The MMA in its recent supreme council meeting had deliberated at length various aspects of the incident, and reached the conclusion that public mobilization at this juncture would not be in the interest of sectarian harmony which the Majlis claims it has achieved through forging unity among parties belonging to various schools of thought.

Maulana Noorani said the Majlis had worked very hard to create sectarian harmony first through the Milli Yakjehti Council, and now by forging a political alliance of all sects in its ranks and would not do anything to undermine this unity.

He said the murderers of Maulana Azam Tariq wanted chaos and disruption in the name of sectarian differences and some people within the MMA were also trying to create a situation which the MMA had avoided through calculated moves.

The MMA leader said: “Let this situation cool down. When that happens, the religio-political parties’ alliance will accelerate its struggle against the LFO and the uniformed president.”

He said the mass contact campaign which is to be launched through Ramzan ‘Iftaris’ will be accelerated by holding big public rallies throughout the country after Ramazan to put maximum pressure on the government for resolving the constitutional crisis.

Mr Noorani said the very fact that the government was unable to run parliament smoothly since its coming into being, and had also come under intense international pressure to resolve the constitutional crisis, was a big achievement of the MMA.

He pointed out that Gen Musharraf, who had claimed that he had succeeded in restoring ‘democracy’ of his own liking in the country, had so far failed to address a joint session of parliament.