January 27, 2008	Sunday	Muharram 17, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Jan 26: An inter-provincial information ministers conference held here on Saturday endorsed President Pervez Musharraf’s policies.

The ministers expressed their determination to fully support these policies in order to “fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”.

The federal and provincial ministers said that since the country was moving towards the Feb 18 elections, “they will keep very close contact among each other and work as a team so as to create a conducive environment for holding the elections.”

According to a handout, the meeting was chaired by federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Nisar A. Memon.

In their speeches, the provincial information ministers said they would not allow terrorists to disrupt the elections, the political process and the economic growth achieved during the past eight years.

The meeting decided that baseless allegations about rigging of elections should be combated effectively and appealed to the media to enable the caretaker administration to clarify and refute such allegations, which were being deliberately propagated to create doubts and confusions in the minds of people.

The ministers made it clear that the president was a symbol of the federation and that no one would be allowed to cast aspersions on him.

The ministers condemned all insinuations against Pakistan’s sovereignty, national integrity and continued development, which have been raised internationally.

They advised the friendly countries to focus on their elections and not to make Pakistan an issue.

Apart from Mr Memon, the conference was attended by information ministers from Punjab (Mubashir Luqman), NWFP (Prof Imtiaz), Balochistan (Yahya Khan Nasim) and Sindh (Shujaat Ali Baig).

In his speech, Mr Memon said the idea of the conference was to develop inter-provincial coordination leading towards harmony and better working relationship between the provinces, so that an enabling environment was created to hold a fair, free and transparent election.

Federal Secretary for Information Syed Anwar Mehmood said that the conference was aimed at strategising how the information ministry could assist the Election Commission in holding the up-coming elections and how the media could be assisted to cover the process in a befitting manner.