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| December 27, 2003 | Saturday | Ziqa’ad 3, 1424 |
Saarc summit to be held on schedule, says Rashid
ISLAMABAD, Dec 26: Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed on Friday said foolproof arrangements had been made for holding the upcoming Saarc summit in Islamabad on Jan 4-6.
Talking to a TV channel, he said the summit would not be affected by Thursday’s suicide attacks on President Gen Pervez Musharraf.
He said Islamabad would be sealed from Dec 29 onwards.
He quoted President Musharraf as having stated he was the target of the terrorists and nobody else needed to worry about it as everybody was absolutely safe in Pakistan. Terrorists were not against any country. Saarc summit would definitely be held, he added.
He said one suicide bomber had been identified. His mutilated face was found from the compound of Civil Lines police station. His sketches were being prepared, he said.
The minister said: “I am not an expert but it seems that the suicide bomber was not Pakistani.”
He said people were worried about the security of the president and the nation offered thanksgiving prayers on Friday.
FOREIGN OFFICE: The foreign office has said that the Saarc summit will be held according to the schedule and all preparations in this regard are complete.
The security for the summit was already very tight and would be tightened further to allay some concerns about it, spokesman Masood Khan told BBC.
No Saarc member state has expressed concern about security situation in Pakistan, he said.—APP
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