14 August 2004	Saturday	27 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 13: Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Friday offered the opposition a dialogue on the situation in Balochistan after the interior minister had adopted a hard line on the issue in the National Assembly.

"The government believes in dialogue process and is ready to resolve problems of Balochistan people through dialogue. We will talk with an open mind," the prime minister said in brief remarks amid a heated discussion in the lower house over what opposition members called a military operation against nationalist parties in Balochistan in which they claimed gunship helicopters and tanks were being used.

"I am even ready to personally go to the door-step of Balochistan leaders to discuss the matter," he added. The prime minister invited senators and MNAs from Balochistan to discuss the issue and said: "We are ready to discuss this matter with an open heart and resolve it."

"Whatever the problems, we will try to solve them, and problems will be solved too," he said soon after a hard-hitting speech by Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat who blamed attacks on security forces on 'vested interests' opposing development work and mega projects in the province.

A mini-debate on the Balochistan situation followed a protest walkout by all the opposition parties against Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain's refusal to allow some of their members to raise the issue through points of order soon after the National Assembly met to begin a new session on the eve of the independence day.

The speaker agreed to allow the discussion after Chaudhry Shujaat told him that the government would have no objection if the opposition parties wanted to air their views on the matter.

Opposition legislators ended their brief walkout after the prime minister signalled his agreement to the debate and sent Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri to bring them back into the house.

However, the discussion also saw some angry exchanges over the Aug 18 by-elections to two NA seats with opposition accusing the ruling coalition of violating rules and using state resources to get Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz elected and the government denying any wrongdoing.

The ruling coalition used the opposition walkout to hurriedly dispose of the entire listed items for the day, including the passage - without a debate - of a bill amending the Non-performing Assets and Rehabilitation of Industrial Undertakings (Legal Proceedings) Ordinance, 2000, as already passed by the Senate, and the tabling of a standing committee report on a bill seeking to amend the Defamation Ordinance, 2002, and the Pakistan Penal Code.

Responding to opposition criticism on the Balochistan situation that was led by Abdul Rauf Mengal of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal, Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said the government could talk to those people who believed in a political dialogue but 'not with those who want to stab the Baloch people in the back'.

"Our doors for dialogue will remain open for patriotic elements, whether political or non-political," he said. "But those who attack our security forces will be paid in the same coin," he said, provoking opposition charges that he was trying to deteriorate the situation in Balochistan as well as in South Waziristan where a military operation has been under way for months to hunt alleged militants of Al Qaeda and their local supporters. The house was adjourned until 5pm on Monday.