April 24, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 17, 1429

ISLAMABAD, April 23: Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday presided over the first meeting of the newly-formed National Reconciliation Committee for Balochistan.

The committee has been renamed as ‘Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Committee for Balochistan’ and Senator Dr Babar Awan has been appointed its secretary-general.

Dr Awan was asked to draft a paper on ways of resolving the Balochistan issue in the light of the speech Ms Bhutto made in Quetta in December last year.

The meeting was attended by Leader of the House in the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik, president of the PPP Balochistan Mir Lashkari Raisani, MNAs Nabeel Gabol and Ijaz Jakhrani and deputy general secretary of the PPP Balochistan Saadullah Shah.

The four-hour meeting discussed in detail issues like provincial autonomy, Balochistan’s share in natural resources, good governance, poverty, political persecution, missing persons, rule of law and relations between the province and the federation.

The meeting decided to take into confidence all political parties and stakeholders, including educationists, intellectuals, journalists and non-governmental organisations.

The meeting also decided to hold a meeting in Gwadar on reservations about mega projects in Balochistan.

The committee urged the government to upgrade the Quetta airport to enable it to handle landing at night.

Emphasising the role of Senate in representing the federating units, the committee said that it was imperative to involve parliament in devising a long lasting policy for addressing Balochistan’s issues.

The meeting condemned the killing of Prof Dr Safdar Ali Kiani in Quetta.

It noted that just when the country’s largest democratic political party had taken the initiative for reconciliation, some elements had set out to sabotage it. The meeting expressed resolve to continue its efforts.