May 24, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 18, 1429

LAHORE, May 23: Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Affairs Rahman Malik said on Friday that the government had not reached any agreement with any extremist group, including Mehsud and Wazir tribes.

Talking to the media at the launching ceremony of the National Database Registration Authority’s ‘e-Sahulat’ project here, he said militants should lay down arms and play their role for progress of the country.

He said the government would provide food and shelter to 25,000 people stranded in Dera Ismail Khan.

Mr Malik said Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf was performing his role as president and “one should tolerate each other”.

He said the appointment of Salman Taseer as Punjab gov-ernor was not a conspiracy against the provincial government and the controversy should end.

He said the deposed judges would be restored but not in a way that would lead to create another judicial crisis. “We want a permanent solution to the issue.”

Mr Malik said the government was facing an economic crunch which needed to be overcome. The main task of the government was to maintain law and order and provide jobs to the unemployed youth.

The adviser said he believed in self-employment scheme and the e-Sahulat project was one of them.