QUETTA, Jan 30: The information secretary of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), Senator Amanullah Kanrani, has said that withdrawal of army from Sui, arrest of criminals involved in the assault on a lady doctor and putting a stop to the campaign of character assassination of Baloch leaders are needed for building trust and restoring peace in Balochistan.

Speaking at a press conference at the press club here on Sunday, he said that denial of full autonomy to federating units, establishment of checkpoints and refusal to register an FIR against security forces who killed five tribesmen and wounded 23 others were some of the issues causing disharmony between the Baloch people and the federation.

Mr Kanrani rejected government's assertion that army deployment was aimed at protecting gas installations. He said that the government was not sincere in resolving the issue through dialogue and the Sui incident was a pre-planned drama to sabotage the efforts of the parliamentary committee and prepare ground for army deployment in the area.

He said tanks were used against enemies but moving them into Sui against civilians was a warning to tribesmen, either to keep quite or face the wrath troops. Senator Kanrani said that at present the main issue for the Baloch people was to protect their honour and until the Sui incident culprits were arrested and troops were withdrawn from Sui, negotiations would be meaningless.

He accused officials of the Sui police station of being biased in refusing to register an FIR on behalf of tribal elders against the DSG and FC men for killing five tribesmen and injuring 23 others.

The JWP senator said that the leadership of his party would not succumb to pressures and never compromise on the rights of the Baloch people. He said that they would continue their struggle against oppressors.

Weapons seized: The Kharan Rifles, a wing of the Frontier Corps, has seized arms and ammunition from the general Patuk area, but has made no arrests. Frontier Corps sources here said on Sunday that militiamen, acting on a tip, had raided the area and found weapons concealed under-ground.

The seized weapons include 12 RPG-7 rocket, six anti-tank mines, one air defence missile, five rocket launcher fuse, one Kalashnikov, one sub-machine gun, 12 7-MM guns, 765 rounds, 14.5-MM guns, 47 rounds and five mortar bombs.