28 February 2005	Monday	18 Muharram 1426

QUETTA, Feb 27: Balochistan Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani has ruled out any possibility of governor's rule in the province and rejected claims that a military operation is under way in Balochistan.

Talking to reporters after a ceremony held here on Saturday night, marking the inauguration of Shaheen Air International's Karachi-Quetta-Karachi flights, the governor said that terrorism would be eradicated from the province.

He said some subversive elements had been arrested while others would be rounded up soon. He said that political process would ensure success of the government's irreversible plan aimed at putting Balochistan on road to progress and prosperity.

He said that miscreants and their activities would not be able to deter the government from pursuing its policies meant for peace, progress and prosperity of the people of Balochistan.

He said that the Parliamentary Committee on Balochistan would soon be submitting its recommendations while dialogue with political forces in the province was in progress. The process of talks, he said, had been interrupted by the subversive elements, but there was no impasse.

Addressing the ceremony, the governor welcomed the commencement of the Karachi-Quetta-Karachi flights and said it would help the people of Sindh and Balochistan to shuttle easily between the two provincial capitals, and accelerate business, development, economic and other activities, particularly in Balochistan.

The governor said that because of government's policies, private sector was coming forward and investing in Balochistan. He advised the airline's executives to work on a flight from Quetta to Zahedan (Iran), that would give a boost to economic activities in the region and bring the peoples of the two neighbourly countries closer to each other.

Speaking at the ceremony, Syed Tariq Husain, SAI's director commercial, said the airline was in the process of launching more flights to facilitate travel between major cities of the country. He said it also planned to launch international flights from Balochistan.

Appreciating the government's development plans for Balochistan, he said that the Karachi-Quetta flight was not for financial gains but aimed at providing comfortable and cost-effective travel facility to people.

Vice-Chairman of the airline, Pervez Ali Khan, assured the governor of cooperation in the development work in Balochistan and said that the SAI planned four flights a week on the Quetta-Karachi sector.

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