KARACHI: A meeting of PPP leaders in Dubai on Saturday discussed the situation prevailing in Sindh where Rangers are engaged in a “targeted operation” and the NAB and the FIA have launched an anti-corruption campaign, according to sources.

But a brief statement issued by the PPP here said the meeting was just a “courtesy visit” by about a dozen party leaders to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

The meeting offered fateha for Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, a son of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, who died of heart attack earlier in the day.

It also condemned Friday’s terrorist attack on a Pakistan Air Force camp in Peshawar and offered fateha for the victims.

“PPP leaders from Punjab and Sindh attended the meeting, so obviously it discussed party matters relating to the provinces,” said a source.

“In Punjab the main concern of the party is the coming local bodies’ elections and in Sindh it is the Rangers-led operation and the anti-corruption campaign by the Federal Investigation Agency and the National Accountability Bureau.”

When asked whether the meeting discussed the Rangers’ stay in Sindh, the source said the issue was debated but no decision was made.

“It is an old debate within the PPP hierarchy,” said the source.

“Those calling on Mr Bilawal and Mr Zardari included Faryal Talpur, former prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf, Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Khurshid Shah, Senators Sherry Rehman, Aitzaz Ahsan, Farhatullah Babar, Taj Haider and Rehman Malik, Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, Manzoor Wattoo, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Naveed Qamar, Faisal Karim Kundi, Nadeem Afzal Chan, Fateh Mohammad Mohammad Hasni, Akhun­d­zada Chattan, Sadiq Umrani and Chaudhry Manzoor,” said the statement.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2015

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