ISLAMABAD, Jan 9: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Monday said action against absconders involved in criminal acts in Balochistan would continue.

These elements had been indulging in heinous crimes like bomb blasts in different parts of the country and were taking refuge in “frari” camps in Balochistan, he said while talking to newsmen after a visit to Rawalpindi’s central Adiala Jail.

He said the action was criminal-specific and not against any Sardar or Wadera. “The government is continuing action against anti-state elements.”

Answering a question about the possibility of a meeting between PPP leader Benazir Bhutto and PML chief Nawaz Sharif in Dubai, he said it was not an issue of importance.

He said President General Pervez Musharraf had accorded permission to Nawaz Sharif to move out of Saudi Arabia purely on humanitarian grounds and now it was up to the British government to give or refuse him visa to enter the UK.

To another question, he said the MQM was an ally of the government and the issues had been settled peacefully through dialogue.

He said that the construction of new water reservoirs was in the best national interest and Sindh would be the biggest beneficiary of the dams.

Sheikh Rashid said time would prove that construction of new dams helped save vast tracts of land in Sindh from becoming barren.

He said he would celebrate Eid-ul-Azha with the quake survivors in Azad Kashmir and NWFP.

For the purpose he would visit Mansehra, Muzaffarabad and Balakot on Thursday.—APP