17 February 2004	Tuesday	25 Zilhaj 1424

SAHIWAL, Feb 16: Federal Railways Minister Ghaus Bakhsh Mehr said on Monday engine and its bogies would be assembled at home after attaining the technology from China and Japan.

Talking to newsmen at the railway station, he said Japan had agreed to supply 69 locomotives to Pakistan. Some 13 locomotives had already been delivered while the rest would be assembled in the PR workshop with the machinery and material supplied by Japan, he added.

He said the double railway track between Khanewal and Lodhran stations would be completed during the current fiscal year. After the completion of this assignment, the railways would lay double track from Khanewal to Raiwind.

To ensure implementation of timing schedule, he said, a cell had been working under the federal ministry. The minister suspended from service the staff responsible for attending helpline (117) in the wake of the accident of the Allama Iqbal Express on Feb 3 near the Mirdad Muaafi railway station.

MMA LEADER: MMA Punjab President Hafiz Muhammad Idrees has supported the immediate return of former prime ministers - Benazir Bhutto and Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif - to Pakistan.

Talking to newsmen at the residence of Shabbir Ahmad at Officers Colony on Monday, he alleged that the US, Israel and India were blackmailing Pakistan on the nuclear issue. He urged unity at the national level to face the challenges.