PESHAWAR: Awami National Party information secretary Haroon Bashir Bilour has asked the federal government to take appropriate steps for the release of around 700 Pakistanis detained in Oman.

In a statement issued here on Friday, he said that the federal government had focused on Panama issue, ignoring the genuine problems of the masses.

He said that 700 workers had been put behind bars in various jails of Oman. These workers went there for jobs, he added.

He said that families of the detained workers had staged protest demonstration in Peshawar about four months ago, but the government did not take notice of the issue. He urged the federal government to take up the matter with the Omani authorities to ensure release of detained workers before Ramazan.

Meanwhile, ANP provincial general secretary Sardar Hussain Babak said that there was confusion in the government plan about the merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In a statement he said that the party had serious reservations over the proposed reforms plan.

He said that the federal government announced merger of Fata with the province but essential “ingredients” for the merger had been ignored.

He said that the centre should transfer legal and administrative authority to the provincial government for merger of Fata with the KP.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2017