RAWALPINDI, Aug 24: Sindh chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim on Tuesday said international terrorists network was mainly responsible for the law and order situation in Karachi.
However, he added, the presence of some "black sheep" in the law-enforcement agencies could not be ruled out.
The government, he said, was trying its best to weed out unscrupulous elements from the law-enforcement agencies. Besides, some members of a terrorists outfit, Jandulla, had also been arrested.
Responding to queries of media persons during a 'Meet the Press' session at the Rawalpindi Press Club, Mr Rahim said law and order situation in Karachi could not be termed "ideal". It would be unfair to make the people believe that the situation in Karachi was ideal when it was otherwise, he added.
He said Sindh, like other parts of the country, was witnessing a surge in terrorists activities in the backdrop of 9/11 incident, and Afghan and Iraq wars. When asked that there was a general impression that the government did not intend to arrest killers of religious leader Mufti Shamzai and some others due to political rivalry, the chief minister said the government was making all out efforts to arrest the culprits.
But he said, the Sindh government did not want to arrest those who had no connections with the attacks. He said the Sindh government was still sticking to its earlier stance on the issue of Kala Bagh Dam.
The provincial government had already informed the centre about its position on the issue and "we are going to brief President Musharraf on Sindh's view point within a few days". However, the final decision regarding the construction of the dam has to be taken by the centre, he observed.
When asked about the fears expressed by Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leadership that agencies intended to break up the party, the minister said the party had its roots in masses and no power could break it except its own leaders. He said he had no objection to the return of MQM leader Iltaf Hussain to the country.
Mr Rahim said he had visited Islamabad to discuss consolidation of Pakistan Muslim League in Sindh. When asked that there was an impression that the PML had been the party of the turn coats and that it had always backed army generals and dictators, he said: "Even Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had changed his political party by switching over to the PPP from the PML".
He said changing parties or the unification or coalitions was a political process and must be observed positively. The opposition was exploiting the word "turn coat" for political mileage, he said.
