ISLAMABAD, May 23: The federal cabinet formed two ministerial committees on Wednesday to investigate incidents of violence in Karachi over the controversial issue of the demand for a new Muhajir province and to formulate recommendations to resolve the issue of missing persons in Balochistan.

Briefing reporters on the decisions taken by the cabinet which met under Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the committee on Karachi would be headed by senior PPP member and Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim whereas Law Minister Farooq Naek would head a similar body to look into the law and order situation in Balochistan with particular reference to the missing persons.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik gave a detailed briefing on the Karachi situation and the cabinet concluded that a committee was needed to investigate and give suggestions to help bring the situation under control.

According to Mr Kaira, federal ministers Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah, Syed Naveed Qamar and Moula Bakhsh Chandio will be members of the committee.

Giving reasons for appointing Mr Fahim to head the committee, the information minister said: “Makhdoom Amin Fahim is part of a family that is respected by all groups in Sindh so he can work across the divides as a person to bring various groups together.”

However, the fact that no minister from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) attended the meeting, supposedly in protest over

the Karachi situation, weakens the validity of any decisions made in the cabinet meeting.

Mr Kaira denied that the MQM ministers had boycotted the cabinet meeting, terming it an erroneous impression being given by some quarters.

Sources said that some ministers, mainly from Sindh, objected to the role of Interior Minister Rehman Malik in Karachi and criticised him for making some controversial remarks. At one point, the sources said, heated words were exchanged between Mr Malik and other ministers.

Mr Kaira made no reference to any such exchange and said that securing Karachi would continue to be a combined effort.

“The federal government and interior minister, he said, were providing support to the provincial government to control the situation.”

He criticised the media coverage on the issue and said that when the federal government got involved in the Karachi situation, it was criticised and when it decided to stand back and let the provincial government handle the situation, it was also criticised. Therefore, it was a lose-lose situation for the government.

When Mr Kaira was asked why the demand for a Mujajir province had received too much attention recently, he was dismissive of the whole affair and said: “No recognised political force has demanded a separate province.”

Nato supply

Mr Kaira was also critical of the media coverage of the President’s recent visit to Chicago to participate in the Nato summit.

He said the media incorrectly speculated that the president’s visit to Chicago was part of negotiations for reopening Nato supply lines.

“The President went to attend a summit, not to develop bilateral relations. The Chicago summit was not the right forum to seek an apology,” asserted Mr Kaira.

He insisted that the president had stuck to parliamentary recommendations on the apology issue and the demand continued to be in place and the negotiations on reopening Nato supply routes were similarly continuing.