KASUR, March 13: Foreign Minister Mian Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri said on Thursday the government’s stance on Iraq issue was in the best national interest, and iterated that the country wanted it’s solution according to the UN resolutions.

He expressed these views while talking to newsmen at the inauguration of Fareed Express Train at Khudian, about 10 kilometres from here.

The foreign minister said the UN chief inspector in his latest report admitted that Iraq was destructing its long-range missiles. He urged the US to give Iraq more time.

He said Pakistan was against any kind of terrorism and wanted peace in the region, alleging that India was committing atrocities in the occupied Kashmir. He added that Pakistan’s defence programme was transparent and capable of facing any challenge.

Mr Kasuri informed the people that the government was paying special attention to uplift of the country’s rural areas. To provide better communication facilities also figured high on the agenda, he added.

He thanked the railway authorities for restoring the Fareed Express stop at Khudian on his request.

DRIVE AGAINST POLLUTION: Launching a drive against fat-extracting cauldrons that spread pollution, the district administration removed on Thursday 40 containers at Dingarh.

Special magistrate Muhammad Zaman Wattoo, an environmental pollution control official, project managers of treatment plant and other district government officials raided the locality and bulldozed the cauldrons.

Sources said the cauldrons had been set up at railways land, where fat of dead animals and other waste was melted to extract substandard ghee for soap production and human consumption. They said the locals had been suffering from many diseases because of pollution.