August 07, 2008	Thursday	Sha’aban 4, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Aug 6: Five Parliamentarians from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas on Wednesday told the ruling party that they would support the government on impeachment and judges issue if other MNAs and Senators from Fata agreed to their stand.

According to a statement, a five-member group of MNAs from the tribal areas had a meeting with co-chairman PPP Asif Ali Zardari and other leaders of the party and discussed President Musharraf’s impeachment and judges’ restoration.

Shaukatullah, a Fata MNA told this reporter that some of their fellow parliamentarians from the Tribal Areas were not present in Islamabad and so they could not attend the meeting. They will arrive in the capital in a few days and the issue will be discussed with them, he said. “If they agree to our stand then we will support the government move,” he added.

“There is crisis in our areas due to the ongoing government operation,” he said. “We are so much concerned about our own issues. But the ruling party has presented us another issue. We have, therefore, decided to first have a meeting amongst ourselves and take a unanimous position on all the issues – operation in the Tribal Areas and the President and Judges, Mr Shaukatullah said.

The Fata MNA said that if all the tribal areas parliamentarians agree on supporting the government then they will inform the ruling party.

FATA parliamentarians who attended the meeting included MNAs Shaukatullah (Bajaur Agency), Mohammad Kamran Khan (North Waziristan Agency), Sajjid Hussain Turi (Kurram Agency), Hamidullah Jan Afridi (Bara-Khyber Agency) and Noorul Haq Qadri (Landi Kotal – Khyber Agency).

Zardari was assisted by Law minister Farooq H Naek and minister for labour, manpower and overseas Pakistanis Syed Khursheed Shah.