Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, briefing newsmen after the cabinet meeting, said on Saturday all local people involved in the assassination attempt on President Pervez Musharraf have been arrested and their network has been smashed.
"The case was completed following excellent investigations," he said, adding, "now efforts are afoot to trace their foreign links to determine who was the mastermind behind these attacks."
Meanwhile, the federal cabinet has requested the President to shift to Islamabad in order to avoid frequent travel between his house in Rawalpindi and the Presidency, the minister said.
He also briefly touched upon a variety of other subjects of current interest in his briefing at the Press Information Department.
He told a questioner that it has been decided in principle that the President will address the joint session of the Parliament, but the date for that event has yet to be decided.
However, both the National Assembly and the Senate sessions would be called separately in the near future, he added.
The minister said he has no information as to when the bill for the proposed National Security Council would be tabled in the Parliament, as the matter was not discussed in the cabinet.
Sheikh Rashid Ahmad could not say at what level the first round of talks between Pakistan and India would be held, but he was confident that "whatever the level of talks, these would be at a responsible level". He did not further elaborate it.
The minister rejected the insinuation that the government has put aside the UN resolutions on Kashmir. "The UN resolutions are still valid but when you are going for a solution minor changes cannot be ruled out," he added.
"Kashmir cannot be sidelined...No way," he told a questioner, reminding that President Musharraf in his meeting with Kashmiri leaders, the other day, categorically said that when the time comes they would be asked to join in the process.
"Leave it to me how I take Kashmiris from both sides (of the LoC) into talks," the minister quoted the President having told the Kashmiri leaders.
For talks with India there are going to be many committees, he added, without explaining his cryptic remark. In reply to a question, the minister said that for the time being, he was not going to allow the Indian channels broadcast their programmes in Pakistan. "When there is progress on Kashmir, then I will think what to do about it".
Comments
Comments are closed.