October 16, 2008	Thursday	Shawwal 16, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Oct 15: The joint session of the two houses of parliament continued for the fourth day on Wednesday without any sign of a consensus emerging on the national strategy for combating terrorism and coping with the threat of Talibanisation.

Information Minister Sherry Rehman, who had briefed the session on the war on terror on Tuesday, answered questions asked by legislators of the opposition and the ruling coalition during the four-hour proceedings.

She said the PPP-led government had no ‘written accord’ with the United States on the rules of engagement in the war against terrorism and President Asif Ali Zardari had made no commitments in this regard during his visit to the US.

Senator Kamil Ali Agha of the PML-Q drew the attention of the speaker to widespread reporting of Ms Rehman’s briefing in the media which, according to him, was officially leaked out.

He said that nothing remained secret and everything the minister had said in camera had been printed and telecast today.

Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza observed that leaking out in-camera proceedings had been unfair.

Pakistan Muslim League-N legislators, who criticised the ‘civilian’ briefing on the war on terror on Tuesday, softened their stance outside the Parliament House after the adjournment of the session till Thursday morning.

The change was attributed to PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif’s advice to his party’s lawmakers to avoid opposing all efforts of the government to develop a consensus.

Some lawmakers from the PML-Q and JUI-F told reporters that they were not satisfied with the quality of answers to their questions.Some insiders reported a lack of interest among a section of lawmakers, forcing the speaker to warn them against engaging in cross-talk and taking no interest in the proceedings.

Some members from the treasury and the opposition even left the house one after the other.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani offered apologise for the playing of the national anthem ‘inadvertently’ at the end of Tuesday’s briefing.

PML-N leader Javed Hashmi told reporters that the briefing would help evolve a consensus to meet the challenge of terrorism, adding the nation hoped the session would yield a positive outcome.

About the previous government’s policy on the war on terror, he said: “If President Musharraf had signed any agreement with the US after the 9/11 incident, people’s representatives should be informed about it.”

Mr Kamil Agha said that 90 per cent of the questioners were not properly answered.

Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of the JUI-F accused the government of following the policy of the Musharraf regime on the war on terror.

“We demand a change in the policy,” he said.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman was reported to have said the briefing contained nothing new. “We know far more than what the government has told us about the situation in tribal areas.”

Iqbal Zafar Jhagra of the PML-N said the government had made a sincere effort to take the parliamentarians on board, adding that a few aspects not covered could be taken up during the debate.

He said that Mr Sharif had advised the party’s legislators to cooperate with the government wherever necessary, but without compromising on the national interest. Mr Jhagra said his party wanted to play a positive role and avoid criticism for the sake of criticism.

An official handout issued after the session said: “The in-camera joint sitting of parliament continued today with National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza in the chair. Today was the question-answer session. Ms Sherry Rehman, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, answered questions of the parliamentarians. The session continued for over four and a half hours. The sitting was adjourned by the Speaker till 11am on Thursday.”