October 23, 2003	Thursday	Sha’aban 26, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 22: A three-member team of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), led by its president Senator Allama Shah Ahmed Noorani, left here on a two-day visit of Chaghai and Gwadar in Balochistan, alliance sources said on Wednesday.

Other members of the team included Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, who returned to the National Assembly from the Chaghai district.

The purpose of the visit is to ascertain facts about reports of unrest in these areas allegedly caused by harsh treatment meted out to the local people by the Frontier Corps.

The team will hold meetings with senior politicians of the area to assess the prevailing situation and to chalk out a strategy, the sources said.

The MMA and other political parties of the Chaghai district have alleged that the FC was preparing a ground for a large-scale military operation in the area, and announced that they would resist any such attempt.

Earlier, the MMA had sent a fact-finding mission to the South Waziristan Agency, but it was not allowed to enter the agency by the political agent under the Frontier Crimes Rules (FCRs).

The MMA has also prepared a programme to hold public rallies in the tribal areas.

The team would also visit Gwadar where the nationalist parties have launched a protest campaign against the setting up of cantonments near the Gwadar port.