ISLAMABAD, Jan 12: PPP Senior Vice-President and former minister Mir Baz Mohammad Khan Khetran has said Balochistan issue cannot be resolved by army generals at gunpoint.

Commenting on Gen Pervez Musharraf's TV interview in which he warned the nationalists of dire consequences, Mr Khetran said Gen Musharraf should know that Balochistan was not Tora Bora or Wana.

The PPP leader regretted that Balochistan was burning but no one seemed to be interested in resolving the problems being faced by the people of the province. He said: "The local and provincial governments were busy in legitimizing the illegal and unconstitutional acts of the ruling generals."

At present, he alleged, Pakistan Army generals were fighting with local warlords who had been created by the military itself due to its wrong policies of the past. He said both the parties were using the "language of bullets" which would further complicate the situation.

The PPP leader stressed the need for finding a political solution to the problem and said party chairperson Benazir Bhutto could play a major role in this regard. Mr Khetran also expressed his concern over the language used by Gen Musharraf against the people of his own country.

"Gen Musharraf should know that Balochistan's future was very important for the future of Pakistan," he said, adding the province was rich with mineral resources and could become even richer than Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

The PPP leader said maintenance of law and order situation was the responsibility of the provincial and local governments, but it was strange that the director-general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) was giving briefings on the issue.

Giving examples of Palestine and Kashmir, Mr Khetran said people's movement could not be crushed by guns. He said the people of Balochistan were struggling to get their rights within the state and it was unfair to call them separatists.

He said they were demanding their due share from the income of mineral and other resources of the province. On one hand the people of Balochistan did not have drinking water, while on the other sons and relatives of civil and military bureaucrats were earning millions of dollars per day from the contracts of the liquid petroleum gas (LPG).

It is unfortunate that those whose fore-fathers sacrificed their lives in protection of the land were wandering here and there bare-footed in Balochistan and living below the poverty line. He alleged that 80 per cent of the development fund of the province was being embezzled.

"Instead of using laser-guided missiles, the general should take steps to improve the life standard of the local people of Balochistan by providing them jobs and better health facilities," Mr Khetran said.