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India-Pakistan

No more meetings with govt, MMA tells Fazl

2007-09-04

The MMA on Monday stopped its leaders, especially secretary general Maulana Fazlur Rehman, from meeting government leaders and officials on their own. A meeting of the MMA chaired by Qazi Hussain Ahmed at his residence here also reiterated the alliance’s opposition to President General Pervez Musharraf’s re-election with or without uniform. The meeting was attended by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, JUI-S’s Pir Abdul Rahim Naqshbandi, Jamiat Ahle Hadith’s Prof Sajid Mir and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan’s Sahibzada Abu Al-Khair Al Zubair. Qazi Hussain told reporters after the meeting that no MMA leader would meet government leaders and officials without seeking permission from the top leadership of the alliance. Sources told Daily Times that some participants of the meeting, especially Prof Sajid Mir and Sahibzada Al Zubair, criticised Maulana Fazl for meeting Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in Islamabad in which Shujaat had sought his help for the president’s re-election.

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India-Pakistan

No deal with Musharraf: Fazl

2007-08-23

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, secretary general of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and head of his own Jamiat Ulema Islam faction (JUI-Fazl), has said he will fully resist any attempt by President General Pervez Musharraf to get re-elected in uniform from the current assemblies. Maulana Fazl also scoffed at reports painting a “formal meeting” of his with Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain as a step towards a possible deal between the government and JUI-F on the presidential election, saying it was “virtually impossible” to hold talks with “unconstitutional and undemocratic elements”. Addressing a press conference after an MMA Supreme Council meeting in Quetta, he said he would take full part in forthcoming general elections. He said the names of MMA candidates would be announced on September 10, and these would be sent to the alliance’s provincial and parliamentary boards.

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India-Pakistan

Who wanted emergency and who did not?

2007-08-10

A high-level meeting with President Pervez Musharraf in the chair on Tuesday night had decided to impose emergency in the country, but the president did not proclaim so, fearing a severe public reaction, reported Geo TV. According to the channel, Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi and Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim pressed the president to impose emergency. Government's legal advisers Sharifudin Pirzada and Justice (r) Malik Qayyum seconded the proposal. "The Muttahida Qaumi Movement leaders, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Muhammad Yousaf, PML Secretary General Syed Mushahid Hussain and the chief of an intelligence agency opposed the proposal to impose emergency," the channel quotes sources as saying.

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India-Pakistan

Jamali refuses to re-join PML

2007-08-08

Former Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on Tuesday turned down Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain's request to re-join the ruling party. The curt brush-off came from Jamali when the prime minister and PML chief met him briefly on the sidelines of a lunch hosted by Health Minister Muhammad Nasir Khan at his residence in Islamabad. Some treasury parliamentarians were also invited to the lunch. Requesting anonymity, one MP told Daily Times that the Leaguers discussed the country's overall political situation with a special reference to the ongoing rift between Jamali and Chaudhrys that had led the former to resign from party's basic membership. The PM requested Jamali not to issue hawkish statements against Chaudhrys and sort out differences with latter through dialogue and not through press statements in the 'larger interest' of the party, he said. Jamali said he had maligned no one in the party and had no intentions to do so in future. He turned down PM and Chaudhry Shujaat's request to join again the PML, the MP said.

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India-Pakistan

NA minus MMA denounces extremism

2007-08-02

National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain on Wednesday rescued the treasury from a possible embarrassment by abruptly adjourning the house proceedings, which lacked quorum despite the presence of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in the NA. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao was winding up his speech on law and order with special reference to the Lal Masjid operation when the Muthida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) pointed out the quorum. Sensing the lack of the required quorum, the speaker adjourned the proceedings and asked the minister to complete his speech today (Thursday). Earlier, in a rare consensus in the lower house, NA members across party lines, except the MMA, denounced extremism and called for a national consensus to deal with this growing menace. Expect MMA members, almost all members representing different parties on both sides of the divide called for reforms in the madrassa system and a purge of weapons from society. Mehmood Khan Achakzai, a Baloch nationalist, said taking US threats to strike in Pakistan must be taken seriously and the American government should be given a “rational” answer to the US intelligence reports regarding growing terrorist networks in Pakistan. He also demanded that the speaker convene a joint parliament session and hold an in-camera briefing for the members.

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India-Pakistan

Musharraf and Benazir finally meet: Mother of all deals?

2007-07-28

President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister and chairwoman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), met in Abu Dhabi on Friday and discussed the political situation in Pakistan, including the upcoming general elections and the president’s re-election from the current assemblies. Geo news, quoting sources close to the two leaders, reported that the meeting that lasted for over an hour ended in a deadlock after Bhutto refused to endorse Musharraf as president in uniform for another term. The channel said that Bhutto was asked to endorse Musharraf in uniform for the next term and in return the government would remove the constitutional embargo on her becoming prime minister for the third time. However, political observers say there was no deadlock in the talks on the uniform issue and that a deal between the PPP and President Musharraf was likely to be signed soon. Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told the channel that there was no deadlock in the Musharraf-Benazir negotiations on the president’s uniform issue. He said that this could be the final round of talks between the PPP and the government. Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain appreciated the reported meeting between President Musharraf and Bhutto, saying they had not “committed a sin”. He said the president’s uniform was not an issue in the talks with the PPP, adding that the PML may share power with the PPP after the general elections. The channel said it was not a one-on-one meeting and some important Pakistani and Arab personalities and Western diplomats were also present there. “The UAE interior minister’s son acted as the mediator between the two sides,” sources told Daily Times. However, because Paks are involved... Meanwhile, the president’s spokesman, Maj Gen (r) Rashid Qureshi, said that reports of a meeting between the president and the PPP chairwoman were “completely baseless”. "Pooh. Pure concoction!" “They are baseless, concocted. There is no truth in them,” Qureshi said. "Lies! All lies!" PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said he was not aware of any meeting between Bhutto and Musharraf. “I am not aware of it,” he told Daily Times. "Nope. Nope. Never happened!"

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India-Pakistan

Govt warned of 'madrassa backlash'

2007-07-09

Wafaqul Madaris, a body of madrassas countrywide, on Sunday warned the government of a backlash from madrassa students and clerics if security forces continued their siege of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa. Wafaq clerics, headed by Maulana Salimullah Khan, conveyed the warning to Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in Islamabad on Sunday. The clerics asked the PML chief to tell President General Pervez Musharraf that the Lal Masjid operation should be immediately halted, Qari Hanif Jalhandri of the Wafaq told Daily Times after meeting with Chaudhry Shujaat. He would not elaborate on how madrassas would react if the Lal Masjid operation were not halted. He said that the Wafaq would call a Supreme Council meeting shortly to consider the Lal Masjid operation and the situation arising out of it. Qari Hanif said that the Wafaq demanded amnesty for Lal Masjid deputy chief cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi and militant madrassa students who have been holed up in the mosque for the last six days. “We feel the general amnesty for those inside the mosque and Jamia Hafsa will prevent further loss of lives,” Hanif said. He condemned the takeover of Jamia Faridia, Lal Masjid’s madrassa for boys in E-7, by law enforcement agencies. He said Chaudhry Shujaat had assured the Wafaq delegates that he would communicate their sentiments to the president. Meanwhile, twin city clerics led by Qari Saeedur Rehman and MNA Maulana Shah Abdul Aziz also demanded amnesty for Ghazi Abdul Rashid and his diehard supporters holed up in the mosque.

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India-Pakistan

Ghazi snubs Shujaat over house arrest

2007-07-07

Lal Masjid deputy cleric Abdul Rasheed Ghazi on Friday rejected Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s Ghazi had rejected his offer saying his associates were not ready to surrender and that they would fight till death. offer of being placed under house arrest instead of detention, Aaj TV reported. Shujaat said he had talked with Ghazi via telephone and pressed him to surrender and release female students and children. He said that he had offered to Ghazi that he and his mother could be kept under a house arrest. He said Ghazi had rejected his offer saying his associates were not ready to surrender and that they would fight till death. He said he had consulted with authorities concerned before making the offer.

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India-Pakistan

Shujaat says Karachi riots fears baseless

2007-05-12

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain ruled out any possibility of riots during the MQM rally in Karachi today (Saturday). He hoped that the rally would prove successful beyond expectations. While talking to a private TV Channel he said that the situation was in control, therefore there was no need to implement emergency in the country.

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India-Pakistan

No timeframe for resolution of Jamia Hafsa issue

2007-04-25

The government cannot give any time frame for the resolution of the Jamia Hafsa standoff because of the sensitive nature of the issue, Zafar Iqbal Waraich, state interior minister, told the National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday while responding to a calling attention notice from members. Waraich told the NA that the Lal Masjid was initially allocated a small plot of 25x40 feet but the administration of the madrassa now illegally occupied 18 kanals of land. He said the clerics were using the female madrassa students as shields during the crisis and the government did not want to take any action that could lead to bloodshed. Waraich said the government had contacted all the leading clerics of the country to persuade the stubborn administration of the Lal Masjid, but it turned a deaf ear to their requests. He said the government had involved Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in an attempt to resolve the issue peacefully through talks. Waraich claimed that the talks were heading in a positive direction, but did not give any details of the progress.

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India-Pakistan

PM discusses Jamia Hafsa relocation with Shujaat

2007-04-23

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz met with Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and other high-ranking officials on Sunday to review the Jamia Hafsa situation and discuss the possible relocation of the institution. The government has made a final decision on the issue, said sources, adding, that the administration of the madrassa would soon be taken into confidence on the issue. The PM expressed satisfaction about the progress of the issue and discussed his tour to China with the meeting’s participants. The meeting also discussed the ongoing chief justice controversy and the overall socio-political scenario of the country. The participants refuted any notion of a deal with the Pakistan People’s Party and urged that the present allies of the PML should be kept for the coming general elections. Important factors regarding the presidential reference against the chief justice were also discussed in the meeting.

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India-Pakistan

Shujaat says mosques issue almost settled

2007-04-20

Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Thursday, commenting on a statement made by Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi about the government’s negotiations with the administration of Lal Masjid, said the majority of reservations regarding reconstruction of demolished mosques in Islamabad had been settled. He said, “no one can even think about refusing enforcement of the Quran and Sunnah”. He said it was a good omen that the administration of Lal Masjid wanted to resolve all issues through dialogue. He hoped the issue of the children’s library occupied by Jamia Hafsa students in Islamabad would soon be resolved.

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