31 July 2004	Saturday	13 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

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ISLAMABAD, July 30: The National Assembly was assured on Friday that Pakistan had so far taken no decision on sending its troops to Iraq and any decision in this regard would be taken only after creating a national consensus on the issue by taking parliament into confidence.

The assurance was held out by Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri while winding up a debate on the country's policy viz-a-viz Iraq. During the four-hour debate the opposition lawmakers blasted the government for not making an unequivocal announcement that no troops would be sent to Iraq which, they said, led to the murder of two Pakistani hostages by their captors.

The treasury benches supported the policy on Iraq but agreed that a consensus was needed to be evolved among all parliamentary groups before taking a final decision about sending troops to Iraq.

Winding up the debate, Khurshid Kasuri dismissed the opposition's allegation that the foreign policy was being framed under the US dictations. He said Pakistan would never change its foreign policy, especially on Iraq on the pressure of terrorists who kidnap and kill innocent people in Iraq on a regular basis.

He said Pakistan's foreign policy could not be hijacked by terrorists. The minister agreed with suggestions that there should be a bi-partisan approach in framing the country's foreign policy and enumerated a number of steps towards that end including inviting opposition to the briefings on the Saarc conference, Dr A.Q.Khan issue, and said the government would be willing to take all parties along in future as well.

Responding to members' fears about the safety of thousands of Pakistanis working abroad after the killing of two workers in Iraq, the foreign minister said: "The government is alive to the problems of Pakistani expatriates and would provide every relief and facility they would need."

Mr Kasuri claimed that during the last one and a half years the foreign office had achieved a number of successes, including Pakistan's entry into the Asean Regional Forum and the Commonwealth, the Jan 6 agreement signed between Pakistan and India and the Safta accord.

He said it was also a success of Pakistan's foreign policy that the UN secretary-general and Sudanese President Bashir Omar had asked President Pervez Musharraf to play a role in resolving the Darfur crisis.

He said that killing of the two Pakistani workers could not be described as a foreign policy failure since militants in Iraq were regularly kidnapping and killing people belonging to various countries.

Mr Kasuri said the opposition should not level baseless allegations just for point scoring and stop suggesting that had Pakistan done this or that the lives of two Pakistanis could have been saved.

Earlier, the opposition members blasted the government for not announcing in categorical terms its policy on troops for Iraq and warned of a strong country-wide reaction if such a step was taken without seeking public support or taking parliament into confidence.

Initiating the debate, Aitzaz Ahsan of the People's Party Parliamentarians said any decision regarding sending troops to Iraq would be deemed unconstitutional under Article 245 (1) of the Constitution.

He said under this article the government could use the army in its fight against terrorism within the country but the law was clear that the government could not ask the army to perform this duty in an alien country.

Saad Rafiq of the PML-N said the government should have categorically declared that it would not send troops after the release of Amjad Hafeez, the first Pakistan to have been kidnapped and released in Iraq.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi while analysing the three conditions put forth by Pakistan for sending troops to Iraq, said until the US was controlling the war-shattered country troops should not be sent even on the request of UN which had no role in Iraq's affairs, while the request of the Iraqi government could not be condoned for it had no legal position as it was a puppet in the US hands.

He said Pakistan should follow the example of Russia, India and Egypt who had declined to send their troops. Dr Sher Afgan of the People's Party Patriots said it was correct that the Constitution did not allow sending troops abroad but several countries had sent their troops on peacekeeping missions in various countries.

Hafiz Hussain Ahmed of the MMA stressed on framing a foreign policy in line with Pakistan's ideological requirements. President of MMA Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that frequent military interventions in the country had complicated every sphere of national life, including its foreign policy.

He said those declaring war on terrorism should also define the state terrorism unleashed by India in Kashmir and Israel on Palestinians. Imran Khan asked the government to make a categorical statement that it had no intention to send troops to Iraq. He alleged that the US war on terrorism was in fact a war on Islam.

He said national security and national interests should be made the basis of our foreign policy. Imtiaz Safdar Waraich of People's Party Parliamentarians said the US invaded Iraq without the UN backing and Pakistan should not involve itself in its affairs as it would earn hatred of the Iraqi people.

Rauf Mengal of Balochistan National Party said the opposition was never consulted on any national issue including the foreign policy nor parliament was ever taken into confidence before taking any important decision.