20 December 2004	Monday	07 Ziqa'ad 1425

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LAHORE, Dec 19: Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmad says he is in favour of talks between the government and opposition parties to discuss their demands , but adds that a decision to extend an invitation to the parties can be taken either by the ruling party president or the prime minister.

"Talks should be held. In politics the doors for a dialogue cannot be closed," he said while talking to reporters here on Sunday. When asked how the much talked-about national reconciliation would come about if President Gen Pervez Musharraf continued to insist that former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz could not return to the country, and in case the Sharifs made such an attempt they would be sent back, the minister said direct or indirect talks for national reconciliation were continuing.

Some matters raised by the opposition were being discussed, he said. Contacts in one form or the other were there, Sheikh Rashid said, adding that at this juncture it would be premature to speculate on their likely outcome. For the time being, he said, they were 'just contacts'.

For Ms Bhutto, he said, cases pending against her in Swiss courts were more important than her return to Pakistan and the government would 'not' be soft in pursuing those cases.

When reminded that the government would not be able to evolve consensus on the issue of dams if it continued to push the major parties to the wall, the minister said the PML-N was in favour of dams and the government was in contact with the PPP on the issue.

About the response from the PPP, he said: "If it's not positive, it's also not discouraging. It will be a win-win situation for both." In response to a question about the government's policy towards the exiled Sharifs, the minister claimed that Mian Nawaz Sharif and Mian Shahbaz Sharif had divergent views on political issues.

When it was pointed out that Mr Shahbaz had vehemently denied reports that his thinking was different from that of his brother, the information minister said: "In spite of such reports, the two have different thinking."

"If so, will the government treat them differently," he was asked. "It depends on the outcome of talks with the PPP," replied the minister. Asked to elaborate on what President Musharraf precisely meant when he said in an interview that he wanted an all-party government in place, Sheikh Rashid said he was not aware of what was in the president's mind.

"How will it be possible for the government to make Pir Pagara and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to sit together when the Sindhi leader has said in categorical terms that he would deal only with President Musharraf," the minister was asked.

He said the question was beyond his jurisdiction. About the sit-in demonstration threats hurled by MMA leaders, Sheikh Rashid said the government would deal with the situation according to its requirements and the president was retaining his uniform to take care of such situations.

He told a questioner that he wanted PML-N leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi released. He hoped that the jailed leader would get a relief through court. Replying to a question, the minister described MQM leader Altaf Hussain's recent statements as irresponsible. However, he said, it was not possible for the government to take any action against him because he was away from the country.