21 April 2005	Thursday	11 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

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BRUSSELS, April 20: The European Parliament on Wednesday cancelled talks with a delegation of the Pakistani senate’s foreign affairs committee in protest at the inclusion of a member of a faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, which the European assembly described as a hardline Islamist group.

The Parliament said the decision had been taken collectively by all of the assembly’s political groups. Sources said the Parliament was concerned about meeting Maulana Samiul Haq who is viewed by European parliamentarians as a pro-Taliban sympathizer.

Pakistani sources said that once alerted about the Parliament’s refusal to meet Maulana Haq, members of the Pakistani senate delegation also decided against attending the meeting, saying they did not agree with the Parliament’s discriminatory behaviour.

British Labour member Neena Gill, who heads the Parliament’s South Asia inter-parliamentary committee, said talks were called off once they realized the Pakistani delegation included Maulana Haq.

Parliamentary sources said Maulana Haq, who heads his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam party, is included among hardline clerics who opposed the US operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and organized protest rallies against these attacks.

“The European Parliament espouses the ideals of democracy, equality and human rights,” Ms Gill was quoted as saying. She added that while the Parliament had members who represented “all shades of the political spectrum,” EU lawmakers could not accept the participation of Haq. “We cannot condone therefore individuals who place themselves outside these parameters, for they represent everything we stand against,” Ms Gill said.