Stringent measures required to counter terrorism: PM
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani while expressing dissatisfaction over the overall law and order situation in the country has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to fight terrorism. Chairing the cabinet meeting here at Prime Minister’s Secretariat on Wednesday, the Prime Minister stressed the need for stringent measures with utmost vigour and strategy to eradicate the menace of terrorism from the society.
He urged for an effective strategy to deal with terrorist incidents in a more coordinated manner in order to provide an environment of peace and security to the people of Pakistan. While discussing the law and order, the Prime Minister said that criminals do not have any ground to stand on therefore they must be pursued relentessly.
He said that the law of the jungle cannot be allowed to persist as we are deeply concerned about the life and property of the people of Pakistan. “Today’s Cabinet is haunted by the legacy of Marriott Hotel suicide bombing,” the Prime Minister said as he mentioned the deadliest suicide attack at the Islamabad Hotel that took 53 innocent lives including the Czech Republic envoy and injured 266 others.
The members of the Cabinet desired that stern action by the law enforcing agencies must be taken as their intelligence agencies are failing miserably to lay hand on the perpetrators of terrorism in the country. The Prime Minister directed the concerned authorities to arrange in-camera briefing for the cabinet on the current scenario.
The Advisor for Interior Rehman Malik briefed the members about the actions taken by the government. He said that the Ministry of Interior is in close coordination with the provincial governments to ensure peace in FATA. He said concerted efforts are underway with the assistance of Pakistan Army and other law enforcing agencies to bring the law and order situation under control.
The meeting offered fateha for the deceased and observed a one-minute silence for those who lost their lives in the tragic incident. The Prime Minister expressed grief over the loss of precious human lives and condemned the abduction of Afghan Ambassador-designate to Pakistan by some miscreants. He said a search operation has already been launched to recover the missing envoy and the scope of search would be widened, if required.
Regarding presidential election, the Prime Minister observed that with President Zardari’s election with thumping majority, parliamentary elections have been completed. He mentioned President Zardari’s address to the joint session of the parliament in which he deliberated upon significant issues including Pakistan’s security, renaming of NWFP, provincial autonomy, reforming the tribal areas, reforms in FCR Laws and all issues of national importance and balance of powers between the President, Parliament and Executive, has been lauded by all political leaders as well as members of the civil society.
Under the Pakistan Accelerating Economic Transformation Programme, the Cabinet approved in principle the proposal by the Finance Division regarding introduction of consolidated supervision in financial sector by the State Bank of Pakistan. The enforcement of this mechanism will ensure the supervision of the banking sector by the State Bank.
The Cabinet also accorded approval, in principle, the amendments to the anti-money laundering Ordinance 2007. The Amendment will address the financing of terrorism, expansion in the list of predicate offences and definition of money laundering in accordance with the best international practices.
The Cabinet also approved the summary of the Ministry of Interior regarding signing of MoU between Pakistan and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for facilitating government of Pakistan to review the training curricula in order to enhance the professionalism of Pakistan police force.
The Cabinet also accorded approval of the summary of the Ministry of Interior pertaining to signing of visa abolition agreement between the governments of Pakistan and France and Guyana for holders of diplomatic and official passports. The Cabinet approved the ratification of agreement between the governments of the Islamic Republic of Tajikistan on cooperation in combating illicit trafficking of narcotics drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals.
The Cabinet also approved summary of the Revenue Division regarding initiation of negotiations of agreement between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the government of Venezuela for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income. The Cabinet also approved the issuance of Long Distance International (LDI) License to China Mobile Pakistan (CM Pak) which is the largest mobile operator both in China and internationally and has now acquired 100% shares of Paktel.-APP
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