NOWSHERA, May 20: Federal Minister for Communications Babar Khan Ghauri criticized the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal for what he termed "double standards", saying that certain anti-Pakistan forces were hatching conspiracies to stall the country's march towards economic stability.

He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the recently constructed bridge over the Indus River at Khairabad here on Thursday. The ceremony was held at the Azad Kashmir Regimental Centre auditorium at Manser cantonment in the Attock district.

Mr Ghauri said that the prevailing situation required all the provinces to forge unity to foil the enemy's designs. The minister said that the present government had decided to lay a road network across the country, adding that the Khairabad bridge would bring economic prosperity to the people of Punjab and the NWFP.

He said that the bridge would also prove to be of immense importance to link Pakistan with Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics. Ghauri said that the present government had taken the Lowari Tunnel project out of the cold storage, adding that work on this gigantic project would begin soon.

Those who were present on this occasion included MNAs Malik Allah Yar Khan, Malik Aslam, Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani, Mohammad Usman, NWFP Assembly Deputy Speaker Ikramullah Shahid, Federal Communications Secretary Iftikhar Rashid, NHA Chairman Maj-Gen Farrukh Javed, Sachal Construction Company MD Abdul Karim and others.

Later, talking to reporters, the minister said that inquiry into the recent violent incidents in Karachi had been initiated, adding that action would be taken in the light of the inquiry report.

He said that certain anti-state elements were behind the ugly incidents, urging the patriotic forces to join hands to foil the nefarious designs.