By Amjad Mahmood | From the Newspaper
Prime Minister, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in meeting with Prominent Journalists at his residence in Lahore on Sunday, May 29, 2011. – Photo by PPI
LAHORE: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said here on Sunday that consultations were under way with all parties on an inquiry commission on the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a US raid in Abbottabad and the government would take a `mature` decision.
Mr Gilani, who was talking to reporters at his residence here, refused to set a date for setting up the commission and said that deadlines were alien to political culture.
Replying to a question, he said PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif had threatened to join an anti-government movement if the commission was not set up because he knew that it would be definitely set up.
Mr Gilani said Mr Sharif was the chief of his own party while he as prime minister had to take along all political forces.
He said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had visited the country to remove misunderstandings and she had endorsed Pakistan`s stance that people in the government were unaware of the presence of the Al Qaeda chief in the country.
He said report of the inquiry would reveal facts about the incident.
The prime minister said differences between ISI and the US Central Intelligence Agency had been resolved and cooperation between the two agencies against Al Qaeda and terrorism would continue.
He said the US had been told that Abbottabad-like unilateral operations were unacceptable and both sides had agreed to work out a joint strategy to avoid such incidents.
The prime minister said Pakistan and the United States had differences over the modalities of the use of drones. He said the US had been told that drone attacks were a violation of Pakistan`s sovereignty and counter-productive for efforts to eradicate terrorism. He said transfer of the drone technology was not possible without bridging the trust deficit between the two allies.
The government, he said, had asked the US to open up its markets for Pakistani products, instead of giving aid, and to cooperate in resolving the energy crisis.
The steps, he said, would enhance people-to-people contacts and a direct relief provided to people through improved power supplies would reduce Anti-American feelings in the country.
Answering a question about calls for removing the Pakistan Navy chief after the recent terrorist attack on the PNS Mehran base, he said such steps were not taken because of demands made by some people and he would do whatever would be in the best interest of the country.
He said the naval chief had himself requested the setting up of an independent commission to investigate the attack and a decision would be taken after considering all aspects.
Replying to a question, the prime minister said no-one had any aggressive designs against the country and Pakistan was not so weak that it would not be able to defend itself.
