No foreign footprints on Pakistani soil: PCNS

* Committee decides to disallow any foreign security contractor to conduct covert operations on Pak soil and giving bases to any foreign nation, especially to the US

ISLAMABAD: The members of Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) on Saturday unanimously agreed not to allow foreign security officials to operate in Pakistan.

They also reached a consensus to include two clauses into the draft about not allowing any foreign security contractor to conduct covert operations on Pakistani soil and not giving airbases to any foreign country, especially to the United States (US).

The committee, which met at the Parliament House with Senator Raza Rabbani in the chair, deliberated for over three hours. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Qamar Zaman Kaira – who has replaced Senator Babar Awan – also attended the meeting.

Rabbani told reporters that the committee was discussing all recommendations and would make decisions with consensus. He said the political parties would not disappoint the nation, as they had done in the recent past.

Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman announced to oppose the conditional restoration of NATO supply. He also warned the government not to use parliament for taking decision on this issue. The cleric was talking to reporters after attending the PCNS meeting. Fazl said that his party had supported “complete and permanent closure” of the NATO supply.

“It was a good decision made by the government, so it should not take it back at any cost. Parliament should also not be used to back out from the decision,” he said.

The cleric said his party would vote against any resolution in parliament in this regard. He expressed hope that the committee would make a rational decision on the issue.

Separately, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) came up with a new proposal to oppose a possible US attack on Iran.

The PML-Q, a coalition partner, also proposed that NATO supply should be confined to food items and medicine only and weaponry should not be allowed to pass through Pakistan into Afghanistan.

Talking to reporters after attending the PCNS meeting, PML-Q Senator Mushahid Hussain observed that his party had also flouted proposal before the committee to oppose any US adventurism against Iran. “Supply of weapons, arms and ammunition must not be allowed to NATO forces through Pakistan,” he commented. He also said that his party had supported conditional restoration of NATO supply while limiting it to food items and medicine only.

Hussain said the committee had agreed to erase three controversial recommendations related to permitting foreign intelligence operatives to Pakistan, granting Pakistani airbases and military bases to foreign forces on Pakistani soil. agencies

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