November 29, 2008	Saturday	Ziqa'ad 30, 1429

LAHORE, Nov 28: President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have decided to disband the National Security Council (NSC) formed by Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf immediately after occupying power in 1999.

“We don’t accept Musharraf’s NSC. The president and I have discussed the issue and the good news is that we have decided to dissolve it,” Mr Gilani told reporters after arriving here from Islamabad on Friday evening.

He said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had also rejected the council.

He said security issues would now be dealt with more effectively because former ambassador to the United Nations Mahmud Ali Durrani had been appointed national security adviser.

However, he did not specify the mechanism or institution to be put in place of the NSC.

All parties except the PML-Q and the MQM had opposed the formation of the NSC because it included chiefs of three armed forces and worked under the president, who was also the army chief, instead of the prime minister.

Answering a question about alleged misuse of authority by Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, he said a parliamentary committee was looking into the matter.

Asked if he could play any role in bridging the gap between Punjab Governor Salman Taseer and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the prime minister said the latter had met President Zardari and the issue would have been taken up there.

Asked if the PML-N had sought the governor’s replacement, he said he did not know what had transpired in the meeting between Mr Zardari and Shahbaz Sharif.

About MQM chief Altaf Hussain’s concerns about Talibanisation in Karachi and the Sindh government’s denial, he said the provinces should remain vigilant against such elements because terrorists had no regard for any boundary or religion and that Mr Hussain’s concerns should not be casually dismissed.