August 03, 2007	Friday	Rajab 18, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Aug 2: Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain on Thursday issued production order for Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) MNA from Karak, Shah Abdul Aziz, to enable him to attend the ongoing session of the National Assembly from Monday.

The speaker issued the production order under Rule 108 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly 2007.

The police had arrested Mr Aziz from his apartment, at the Parliament Lodges in Islamabad, on July 15 under 16 MPO (Maintenance of Public Order) for allegedly supporting Maulana Abdul Aziz and Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi of the Lal Masjid.

He had first been taken to the Secretariat Police Station from where he was reportedly shifted to the Adiyala Jail, in Rawalpindi, for 30 days.

Mr Aziz played an active role in the negotiations with Abdul Rashid Ghazi before the launching of the final operation against the Lal Masjid, in Islamabad on July 10.

Later, the MNA accompanied the sisters of Maulana Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rashid Ghazi to the Supreme Court for a meeting with the acting chief justice, with a request to stop the government from burial of the late Ghazi in his ancestral village.

Just before his arrest, the MNA had accused the government of hiding the real facts of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa. He had claimed that he had been arrested because he was about to set up a special cell to facilitate the parents and relatives of the students, who were killed and missing in the Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa operation.

According to an official handout, the speaker issued the production order for Mr Aziz on two separate applications, submitted by Liaqat Baloch, Dr Farid Paracha and other MNAs.

It may be recalled that Mr Aziz is the second MNA for whom the speaker has issued a production order. Earlier, the speaker had issued the production order for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA from Lahore, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, who was arrested on a charge under the Anti-Terrorism Act, last year.