ISLAMABAD Feb 12: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) is likely to boycott the Feb 15 meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) as none of the MMA's reservations on the NSC formation were addressed/redressed by the government, say sources.
Talking to Dawn on telephone from Lahore, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, said any decision taken by the MMA supreme council on attending the meeting would be binding on him and NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani.
So far, the NSC has held its two meetings, but the MMA members of the council boycotted both of them.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz held a meeting with Maulana Fazlur Rahman to request him for attending the previous NSC meeting, but to no avail.
In a follow-up meeting, Mr Fazl formally conveyed the MMA reservations to the prime minister and sought an attention to the objections till the next meeting of the NSC.
President's close confidant and NSC Secretary Tariq Aziz also contacted the Maulana, requested him to attend the meeting and express his reservations on the occasion.
"Since then there is a complete silence," said the Maulana when asked if the government had taken any step.
The MMA secretary-general had made it clear to both the government functionaries that the alliance had serious reservations on the formation of the council as it wanted to see prime minister chairing it instead of the president.
The MMA will focus its supreme council meeting on the Feb 15 NSC meeting and possible cooperation with Nawaz Sharif in a joint struggle against Gen Musharraf.
MMA's deputy secretary-general Liaquat Baloch told Dawn that the supreme council might endorse its earlier decision of not attending the NSC meeting.
