PESHAWAR, Dec 16: The NWFP assembly unanimously condemned the bomb explosion in Rawalpindi on Sunday aimed at killing President Pervez Musharraf, whose motorcade had passed moments before the explosion site.

The resolution was jointly moved by Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani of the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) and Syed Mureed Kazim of the Pakistan People’s Party (Sherpao). The movers were of the view that it was a murder attempt by the anti-Pakistan forces, which were unhappy over the anti-terrorism stance of President Musharraf.

Deputy Speaker Ikaramullah Shahid, who was presiding over the session, allowed them by suspending the proceedings to table the resolution. It was a handy work of the anti-state forces who were out to turn Pakistan into a lawless state, they added.

They said President Musharraf was not a person, but a symbol of the federation of Pakistan. Some of the political parties were disagreed to the certain policies of the president, but they were also opposed to the terrorism, they observed.

Speaking on the occasion, minister for law and parliamentary affairs Malik Zafar Azam condemned the terrorist act. He deplored that the law and order situation in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad had worsened to the level where the very important people were not secured. Some weeks ago, MNA Maulana Azam Tariq was gunned down at the Golra Morr in Islamabad, he added.

He held the Punjab and federal governments responsible for the Rawalpindi bomb blast. If both the governments would have taken necessary measures after the tragic murder of Maulana Azam Tariq, Rawalpindi incident had not happened, he added.

He said NWFP government was ready to extend all out support to the federal government for rooting out terrorism from Islamabad. “If they want our help we are ready for it. We are opposed to all kinds of terrorism. The life of every Pakistan citizen is dear to us, whether he is a VIP or an ordinary citizen”, he added.

Earlier, the speaker had referred a privilege motion, moved by MPA Mohammad Amin to the concerned standing committee to hold an inquiry against the information officer, who had omitted his name from the proceeding of a public meeting. Minister for Information Asif Iqbal told the House that the name of MPA Mohammad Amin, who had inaugurated a scheme, had been published in a report appeared in a local daily. But, the mover insisted that the motion be sent to the concerned committee and the chair referred it.

During the questions-answers hour, Nisar Safdar of the PML-Q and Pir Mohammad Khan of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal expressed their dissatisfaction over the answers about the seven marlas scheme, initiated by the Mohammad Khan Junejo government. They were of the view that the local government department had furnished fake and incomplete answers to the House.

Atiqur Rehman of the Awami National Party expressed his surprise over a huge amount of Rs5.4 million spent on the installation of 145 water hand pumps in his constituency. He demanded an inquiry into what he called a financial scam.