May 09, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 3, 1429

KARACHI, May 8: A large number of Balochistan National Party leaders and workers were disappointed on Thursday when they learnt that their party chief, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, would not be released.

Sardar Mengal, a former chief minister of Balochistan, has been cleared of all criminal charges by the federal and Sindh governments and was expected to be released on Thursday, according to party sources.

Party workers and leaders from Balochistan had assembled at the Liaquat National Hospital to receive Sardar Mengal. But they were disappointed when they came to know that his release orders had not been issued and that he might be released in a day or two.

Although the Balochistan government recently cleared the BNP leader of various charges, he has remained under detention in Karachi on charges of manhandling two Military Intelligence operatives.

Party’s Secretary-General Habib Jalib Baloch said that all cases registered against the BNP chief had officially been taken back, but despite the issuance of prime ministerial directives, Sardar Mengal’s release orders were not issued, “though we were verbally told that he would be released on Thursday”.

The BNP leader said that such bureaucratic hurdles showed the powerlessness of the civil government, which he said was “hostage to the civil and military bureaucracies”.

He also alleged that “certain forces in the civil and military bureaucracies were trying to create hurdles in the way of settlement of the Balochistan issue.”

Mr Baloch said Mengal’s release could be a major confidence-building measure, but it was not the sole demand the party had been making of the government. The government should withdraw the army from certain parts of the province, end the military operation, release all detained people and address the issue of mega projects. “We would also like the complete withdrawal of the Frontier Corps from all districts of Balochistan just as it has been withdrawn from Quetta and Gwadar checkpoints.”

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani had asked the federal and the provincial governments to immediately withdraw all cases against Sardar Mengal. In a similar move, Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani also had ordered an end to all cases, including two of sedition, against the BNP chief.