ISLAMBAD, May 28: Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Ijazul Haq said here on Monday that he would part ways with the Pakistan Muslim League if it entered into a power-sharing deal with the Pakistan People’s Party.
Addressing a news conference, Mr Haq who is also senior vice-president of the party, referred to the latest interview of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and said that he had been a critical of the course adopted by the clerics of the Lal Masjid for enforcement of Sharia, but the PPP leader had wrongly linked him with their ‘misdeeds’.
Referring to the PPP leader’s remarks about his involvement in Haj quota corruption, the minister said he already challenged his political rivals who had levelled similar allegations in parliament and he would also challenge the exiled PPP leader to furnish any proof she had to support the ‘wild’ allegations.
He said Benazir herself was facing serious corruption charges and she wanted her acquittal, especially in the Swiss court cases, as a condition for entering into a ‘deal’ with Gen Musharraf.
He announced that Imam-i-Kaaba Sheikh Abdur Rahman Al-Sudais was arriving in Pakistan on Thursday and he would be the guest of the government of Punjab and MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmed in Lahore. The following day he will come to Islamabad where the prime minister will host a dinner in his honour.
