0
LAHORE, Nov 2: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) will not attend the all-parties conference being convened by Gen Pervez Musharraf even if the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) decides the other way.
MMA deputy secretary-general Liaquat Baloch says both the alliances are committed not to go to the APC to be chaired by Gen Musharraf.
However, if ARD components, the PPP and the PML-N, make their decision conditional with the return of their respective leaders even then the MMA would stay away from the event, he told Dawn.
Asked why the religious alliance did not join in the walkout staged by ARD MNAs when they were not given the floor before the prime minister in the National Assembly on Tuesday, the MMA leader said the protest was neither planned nor they had been taken into confidence on it.
DIPLOMAT’S ARREST: The religious alliance holds the government responsible for humiliation of the nation by arrest of an official of the Pakistan consulate in New York last week.
It depicts failure of the foreign policy of the country, observes the Jamaat-i-Islami, demanding that the government must lodge a formal protest with Washington by calling in its ambassador to the foreign office.
Consular Assistant Younus Qureshi, working at the consulate for the last 15 years, was picked by US law enforcement authorities outside the consulate last Thursday for “overstay”.
He was handcuffed and taken to a detention centre in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Mr Baloch says as diplomats are appointed by the government so Islamabad is responsible for seeing all formalities regarding their stay in the country of their posting.
“In this case it seems that the government did not fulfil its responsibilities as it failed to get in time renewal of Qureshi’s work permit.”
The government should explain to the nation the reason(s) behind the incident that contradicts its claims of successes on foreign affairs front, he said.
He also criticized the US administration for violating Geneva Conventions by not seeking prior approval of Islamabad for arresting one of its diplomats in New York. It is a total failure of the foreign policy, says Jamaat-i-Islami deputy secretary-general Dr Farid Piracha.
