June 21, 2005	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 13, 1426

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ISLAMABAD, June 20: The management of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company said on Monday that security forces would vacate vital installations of the company within two or three days. PTCL spokesman Ali Qadir Gillani said at a press conference that army would vacate PTCL installations, which had been in their control since June 11.

Meanwhile, seven leaders of the PTCL Workers’ Unions Action Committee — Lala Hanif, Latif Qureshi, Malik Maqbool, Qazi Rashid, Zafar Zaidi, Shamim and Syed Sirajul Hassan –- were released on Monday morning, sources told Dawn.

However, none of the released leaders were willing to talk to journalists about their three-day-long talks with the government. The sources said a deal between the detained union leaders and the government was possible keeping in view the positive steps being taken by both the sides.

They said the government had released all the detained PTCL workers across the country and the picture would be clear in a few days.

The PTCL spokesman and leaders of the PTCL Employees Union, the collective bargaining agent, said at the press conference that they were willing to work jointly for the development of the company.

Union’s president Ziauddin and Secretary-General Rana Mohammad Tahir said they had no objection over the privatization because the management had taken them into confidence and assured them through a written agreement that no worker would be fired.

The action committee, in a statement, condemned the CBA for breaching its trust by siding with the management and accepting privatization.

The committee said it would hold talks with the government only if its demands were accepted.

A meeting of the action committee is due on Tuesday to work out a new strategy, its spokesman Azad Qadri said.

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