16 October 2004	Saturday	01 Ramazan 1425

ISLAMABAD, Oct 15: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq on Friday visited the Chinese embassy to express sorrow and grief over the death of a Chinese engineer on behalf of party leader Nawaz Sharif.

According to a press release, the PML-N chairman condoled with the family of the deceased who died in South Waziristan during a military operation launched for the recovery of two kidnapped Chinese engineers.

PML-N information secretary Siddiqul Farooque was also present on the occasion. Mr Haq also wrote his message in the condolence book placed in the embassy. Later, talking to newsmen, Mr Haq said the government took the decision to launch military operation in "haste" due to which the Chinese engineer lost his life.

He also termed the ongoing military operation in South Waziristan unnecessary and said due to the killing of innocent men, women and children in the operation, there could be a serious law and order situation in the area. The PML-N leader said so far the government had failed to prove its claim regarding presence of foreigners in the tribal area.

KASHMIR ISSUE: Meanwhile, in a statement, Mr Haq said changing the status of Jammu and Kashmir was the sole right of the Kashmiri people, and nobody else was entitled to change or talk of changing the status.

In his reaction to Gen Pervez Musharraf's suggestion that the status of Kashmir should be changed with demilitarization of the area, and that Pakistan and India should then reach a compromise, the PML-N leader said the government had changed Pakistan's principled position on the Kashmir issue so many times during the past five years that it had not only disregarded the sacrifices of the Kashmiri people, but also weakened the stance set by Quaid-i-Azam.