ISLAMABAD, June 15: The jailed president of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) Makhdoom Javed Hashmi has opposed the proposal of Gen Pervez Musharraf regarding setting up of military courts in Karachi and termed it against the national interests.

In a statement issued by the Pakistan Muslim League-N office here on Tuesday, Mr Hashmi also termed this proposal a violation of the Constitution and against the democratic norms.

Mr Hashmi said the PML-N government had set up military courts in 1998 to curb the terrorism incidents. However, he said, these courts were abolished when the Supreme Court gave a verdict against this decision of the government. "This decision is still valid and it should be implemented," Mr Hashmi said.

He said the military courts should not be allowed to hold trials of civilian people. Mr Hashmi, who is also the acting president of the PML-N, stressed the need for improving the judicial system and performance of the intelligence agencies to curb terrorism effectively.

He said the personnel of intelligence agencies should be trained for operation against terrorists and they should be withdrawn from the present duties of monitoring the opposition leaders activities.