ISLMABAD, April 22 The prime minister's adviser on interior affairs surprised the Senate on Wednesday when he directly accused Afghanistan and India of supporting the Baloch National Army's campaign for Balochistan's secession from Pakistan and also implicated the BLA in the kidnapping of UNHCR official John Solecki.

According to Mr Rehman Malik, the BLA had kidnapped the UN official to draw world's attention to its demand for a separate state.

Lawmakers who were startled by Mr Malik's statement demanded an in-camera briefing, saying that openly accusing neighbouring countries might create new problems.

The adviser's speech was interrupted several times by Mahabat Khan Marri, Dr Abdul Malik and Mir Hasil Bizenjo who rejected some of his contentions, particularly about Sher Mohammad Baloch's terrorist background.

Sher Mohammad was recently killed along with two other nationalist leaders and their bodies were found in Turbat.

Senators from Balochistan staged a walkout in protest against Mr Malik's statement.Winding up a four-day debate on an adjournment motion on the murder of the three Baloch leaders, Mr Malik said the government was ready to accept and implement all recommendations made by lawmakers and the parliamentary committee. However, he said, there was no question of conceding independence to Balochistan, a demand raised by less than one per cent of the people of the province.

He rejected that the number missing persons was in thousands as claimed by kidnappers of the UN representative and said that in fact the number confirmed by the authorities was only 831 and 200 of them had already been traced.

About the three assassinated politicians, the adviser said Ghulam Mohammad was wanted by Iran for terrorist activities and it had sought his extradition. Sher Mohammad was an Iranian national who had obtained Pakistani nationality, he added.

The so-called BLA, he said, was set up by the former Soviet Union and was now being supported by the governments of India and Afghanistan. He claimed that some 4,000 to 5,000 Baloch people were in various camps in Afghanistan and they were being trained there for terrorist activities in Pakistan.

PML-N leader Raja Zafarul Haq said the statement about involvement of neighbouring countries would create new enmities.

The adviser said that a committee was working on demands for release of political workers in Balochistan. “I am in contact with the sons of slain Nawab Akbar Bugti and efforts are being made to take all angry Baloch leaders on board.”

Sardari system

He also said that a proposal for reviving the 'Sardari system' in the province was under consideration. He said the Frontier Corps had been put under the chief minister and all 36 FC checkposts had been removed. Mr Malik said there were confirmed reports that BLA chief Brahamdagh Bugti lived close to Afghan President Hamid Karzai's presidential palace in Kabul, adding that 1,000 Baloch students had got training in Russia and they were now active in Balochistan.He said that Pakistani agencies had obtained transcripts of calls between the BLA chief and his men. He claimed that in one call Brahamdagh was asking about 'red goat'-- a code name for Solecki -- and ordering that he be shifted to some other location after the government had got clue to the place where he had been kept.

“Mr Solecki was abducted two days before UN secretary general's visit to Islamabad in order to project BLA's bid for freedom. On the basis of evidence, I met Mr Karzai and sought his help to repatriate Brahamdagh or stop him from doing all that he is doing in Pakistan, but I was given a cold shoulder,” Mr Malik added.

He said he had also urged Mr Karzai to stop the use of Afghan soil against Pakistan because 45,000-50,000 people were crossing over to Pakistan daily.

Mr Rehman said Pakistan had apprised UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the situation in Balochistan and sought his help. Contacts with Mr Karzai led to the release of Mr Solecki, he added.

He proposed the formation of a senators' committee to supervise the working of the judicial committee which was investigating the murder of the three Baloch leaders.

Later talking to journalists, Mr Malik warned India against its activities in Balochistan.

Dr Malik of the Balochistan National Party said that problems in Balochistan should not be linked to India and Russia.

PPP's Lashkari Raisani said that although he belonged to the government side, he would like to say that agencies sometimes mislead the government on certain issues.