JACOBABAD, Sept 22: An agreement between the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and the government has no constitutional validity and it is a mere formality, says former speaker of the National Assembly and leader of the Pakistan Democratic Front Illahi Bux Soomro.

He was talking to Dawn here on Wednesday. Commenting on the controversy over the president relinquishing the post of chief of the army staff, he regretted that President Gen Pervez Musharraf did not keep his promise and was backing out of the commitment he had made to the nation.

He said there was no constitutional provision which allowed anyone to simultaneously retain the two offices, adding that it was ultra vires of the constitution. Mr Soomro said that the chief of army staff was subordinate to defence minister and the president was above everyone.

He lauded Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for his leadership qualities and said that he (Mr Aziz) was a committed professional economist, adding that only he could steer the country's shattered economy back on track.

Referring to the role of Muslim League, he said that the party which had created Pakistan was now split into many groups which was shameful. He said that the government's move of not allowing Shahbaz Sharif to come to Pakistan violated a Supreme Court's order.

He said that he was unaware of any differences between Pir Pagara and Chaudhry Shujaat, adding that he enjoyed "very cordial relations" with both of them. On the Wana situation, he said that air attacks there could only be termed "great tragedy" as people of Wana were also Pakistanis.

KILLED: A man and his seven-year-old son were shot dead near Osta Mohammad on Wednesday during a motorcycle snatching incident. It was learnt that Hakim Ali Brohi had tried to resist the bandits when they attempted to snatch his motorbike from him. Bandits opened fire and killed the man and his son and took away the motorbike.