ISLAMABAD June 2: Leader of opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rahman has said that differences among the MMA leadership over participation in meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) will be resolved and rejected rumours about a break-up of the religious alliance on the issue. Talking to journalists at his parliament house chamber on Thursday, Maulana Fazl claimed that all the component parties of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, except the Jamaat-i- Islami, were in favour of NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani’s attending the NSC meeting.

He expressed the hope that the matter would be amicably resolved before the NSC meeting of June 8 and said that they were looking to MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed to convene the supreme council of the alliance.

He declared: “We are ready to sacrifice much more than participation in the NSC meeting for the sake of unity in the alliance”, adding that they had in the past resolved more complex issues than the present one.

Answering a question whether he with Mr Durrani would attend the NSC meeting, the MMA secretary-general said that they could not do so without a decision of the alliance’s supreme council.

He said that every party in the alliance had the right to argue in support of its position but the leadership (meaning Qazi Hussain) was also expected to listen to every one before a final decision.

The Maulana said that in their view there was no harm in representing the MMA in a body which had become a reality after being set up as a result of an act of parliament.

Answering another question, he said that the government should admit its defeat in the National Assembly for failing to get through its legislative business and resign. If the government did not resign, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Sher Afgan should demonstrate the moral courage by stepping down, he added.

He alleged that the PML was a bunch of self-seekers who were together to protect their own interests and they could not deliver.

Answering yet another question, he said that all the opposition parties in the lower house, including the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, wanted to chalk out a joint strategy for the budget session and they would meet very soon.

He also challenged the rating of Al Libbi as No3 of Al- Qaeda and asked what was the criterion for the rating.