23 February 2005	Wednesday	13 Muharram 1426

QUETTA, Feb 22: MMA leader Syed Munawar Hasan has alleged that the government wanted to establish military cantonments in Balochistan to provide bases to the United States.

Speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday, he said the MMA was against new cantonments in Balochistan, adding that the government was executing the US agenda. He said there was no justification for setting up cantonments in Sui, Kohlu and Gwadar because the area had no border with any other country.

"The US would use these cantonments when it would launch an attack on Iran," he said. He also alleged that the government conducted a military operation in South Waziristan at the behest of the US in which Pakistani troops killed their own people. The operation had created a gulf between army and people of the area which could not be easily bridged.

Referring to the issue of Balochistan, the MMA leader said that the government had failed to meet the needs of the people of the province although it had a very small population.

He said that the mega projects of President Gen Pervez Musharraf in the province would be of no benefit to the local people. He said that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had set up two committees on Balochistan, but reports of the committees were yet to be made public.

Referring to the MMA's proposed million-men march and anti-government movement, he said the alliance aimed to send the army back to barracks and end its role in national politics. "If the march does not succeed in sending the army back to barracks, the MMA and other opposition parties would stage a sit-in in Islamabad," he said.

ACCIDENT: Four Wapda employees were killed and 17 other people were injured when a Gwadar-bound pick-up collided with a speeding coach in the Kalat area on Thursday.

According to levies sources, the pick-up, which was carrying a Wapda team, was on its way to Gwadar from Sibi when it was hit by the coach, near Malshawri, some 40 kms from Kalat. Four Wapda employees were killed on the spot while three passengers of the coach and 14 other people were injured. The coach driver ran away after the accident.

OATH: The chief justice of the Balochistan High Court, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, took over as acting governor of the province on Tuesday. Senior Judge of the Balochistan High Court Justice Amanullah Khan Yasinzai administered the oath office to the acting governor at a ceremony at the Governor House.

Justice Ahmed will be acting governor in the absence of Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani, who is accompanying Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on a visit to Iran. The judges of the Balochistan High Court, provincial ministers and senior officials of the provincial government attended the oath-taking ceremony.