March, 21 2005	Monday	10 Safar 1426

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QUETTA, March 20: Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani said on Sunday that President Gen Pervez Musharraf wanted a peaceful solution to the Balochistan issue. Speaking at a press conference here, he said the president had talked to him earlier in the day and expressed the government’s resolve to explore all avenues of political dialogue and peaceful means to defuse the situation and solve the issues of the province. He appealed to all the political parties to play a positive role for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

The governor urged Jamhoorti Watan Party chief Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti to order his men to remove road blockades, vacate trenches dug recently and ensure a safe visit of parliamentarians and media representatives to Dera Bugti. He said no firing had taken place since March 17 in Dera Bugti but tension in the area remained high.

The city had been evacuated on the orders of Nawab Bugti and now only armed tribesmen were seen in the area, he said. He said all roads leading to Sui and Dera Bugti had been blocked, trenches had been dug and tribesmen had taken positions.

He said the FC compound had been besieged and Commandant Col Furqan and DCO Abdul Samad Lasi were inside it. He said helicopters were being used for supplies to the FC personnel in the compound to avoid clashes due to the blockade.

Armed Bugtis had also surrounded Pirkoh and Loti gas fields, he said. He said that on March 17 a convoy of the Frontier Corps commandant and the district coordination officer was going towards Sui as per routine when it was ambushed by Bugti tribesmen, who had taken position in the area. The attackers also fired at FC men and fort from Dera Bugti, he said.

He said about 125 rockets had been fired by tribesmen on FC personnel by 11.15am. The FC men were asked to defend themselves with full force but ordered not to target Nawab Bugti’s house, although shots were being fired from there as well, the governor said.

He said two contingents of the FC, which moved towards Dera Bugti as reinforcement, were also ambushed and they sustained losses. Nawab Bugti agreed to cease fire from 1.30pm but it could not take affect till the early hours of March 18, while the DCO, the FC commandant and his men retreated to safety under the cover of darkness, Mr Ghani said. He said 250 rockets had been fired by the other side.

He said 40 to 45 men on the other side were killed in firing by the FC. He said eight FC men were killed and 23 wounded. He said the government had learnt from an injured Frontier Corps man that the Bugtis wee moving in the area in FC uniform.

He said the government had postponed the visit by parliamentarians and journalists to Dera Bugti on Saturday after receiving reports that a tailor from Rahim Yar Khan had been called to Dera Bugti and asked to prepare 200 FC uniforms. He said the government could not afford any mishap at this juncture. He said the government did not intend to hide anything.

Political process and dialogue was the only way to resolve the situation, he said. He appealed to all the stake-holders to come forward to find a peaceful solution to the problem.

Recalling the Sui incident of January, he said that whenever a political breakthrough came into sight, some unfortunate incident derailed the entire process. He said that men of the Marri tribe were also seen in the area.

He said multi-barrel rocket launchers having range of 15km to 25km were used against FC men and the weapons and ammunition had been smuggled from Afghanistan. He did not rule out the involvement of a foreign hand in the incidents.

The governor said only regular troops could secure the area under such conditions.

He said Nawab Bugti was a seasoned politicians and he should extend cooperation so that political dialogue moved forward. The government had adopted a policy of restraint, he said.

Answering a question, the governor said army had been deployed in Sui as a precautionary measure so that a situation similar to the one experienced in January did not recur.

He ruled out sending army to Dera Bugti. “There is no soldier in the area,” he said.—Agencies