SUKKUR, Aug 31: Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal general-secretary Maulana Fazalur Rehman has said he is not optimistic about the outcome of the talks with the government on the Legal Framework Order.

Answering questions of journalists at the Sukkur Airport on Sunday before starting a four-day visit to the interior of Sindh, he said the government had wasted 10 months in futile negotiations on the LFO.

Mr Fazl said President Gen Musharraf had recently stated that despite protests by the MMA the assemblies would continue to function which meant that he had no respect for the opposition. This was because the president was not well versed in democratic values, he alleged.

When his attention was drawn to his statement on “Akhand Bharat”, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief said a particular lobby was engaged in maligning him after his visit to India. He said what was published in newspapers here did not publish in India’s papers.

He said the MMA was striving for the supremacy of parliament as the opposition had a greater role in democracy.

Answering another question regarding Pakistan People’s Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s statement that she would not acknowledge a deal of the MMA with the government and that the government should reach such an agreement with the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, Mr Fazl said Ms Bhutto had been issuing derogatory statements against the MMA right from the very beginning. He said his party had always observed restraint against her and had not taken any notice of her recent statement as well.

He favoured the return of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto to the country if they were prepared to face cases pending against them.

Earlier, the Maulana was warmly welcomed by JUI activists here.

CANAL BREACHED: A 12-feet-wide breach developed in the Choti Canal in the Ghulam Haider Jaffery village, Shikarpur district, on Saturday.