ISLAMABAD, June 11: Stung by a new wave of militant violence, the government told the National Assembly on Friday that it would not relent its campaign to crush extremists, rejecting opposition charges of following a disastrous path.

While Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan declared that his government would make no compromise on the country's stability and integrity, Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said no 'Talibanization' of Pakistan would be allowed at any cost.

Both were speaking during a debate on an opposition adjournment motion on Thursday's ambush of an army convoy in Karachi. But the long debate degenerated into allegations and counter-allegations between the opposition and treasury benches.

Members of both the ARD and the MMA also staged separate token walkouts to protest against the speaker's refusal to allow them to move resolutions against a new military operation in South Waziristan.

Mr Jamali intervened in the debate to complain about 'unthoughtful' observations by opposition members that he said could give a wrong message about the country.

"What message are you giving inside and outside Pakistan?" he asked the members. "Is it not necessary that you demonstrate unity? Are you here only to condemn and impose your own desire?"

Referring to fears voiced about the safety of the country's western border with Afghanistan following military operations in the tribal region, he said Pakistani people and military would defend every inch of the country.

He rejected charges that the government was carrying out military operations in the tribal area at the behest of the United States. "If they so confidently say that we are acting for outsiders, then I am compelled to wonder whether they are doing so on foreign advice," he said about the opposition.

"Pakistan's integrity and defence is above every thing and we can do anything for this," he declared. The premier also seemed piqued by remarks by some opposition members about what they called his helplessness in the present set-up with President Pervez Musharraf enjoying more powers.

"I also pity their helplessness," he said about his critics, and added: "If I go into detail, where their helplessness will take them?" The interior minister linked Karachi ambush and other recent major incidents of violence to South Waziristan where he said the authorities had launched a new operation on Friday.

He said these acts of terrorism seemed to be the work of the 'same elements' seeking to destabilize Pakistan and divide its people. "This is part of an organized conspiracy to destabilize Pakistan and create chaos," he said about the Karachi ambush. "The previous violent incidents and the assassination attempts on the president are links of the same chain."

"The government is determined not to let Talibanization to be established in Pakistan, whatever the sacrifice," he said. "They want to push Pakistan to darkness," he said about the activities of militant elements who, he added, had set up a big network in South Waziristan's Shakai area with training and practice-shooting facilities.

Most of about 20 opposition speakers held the government policies responsible for the wave of violence. They said the country would face a disaster if it did not mend its ways. Heated exchanges, particularly between the MMA and the MQM members, created tension in the house with both sides accusing each other of the violence.

The adjournment motion was moved by PPP secretary-general Raja Parvez Ashraf in the morning sitting when Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain set two hours in the evening for the debate, which continued for more than four hours.

The interior minister said the elements who carried out 'unprovoked' attacks on military posts near Wana seemed to have a 'direct role' in the Karachi ambush. He said security forces in South Waziristan had on Friday begun 'an appropriate response' to militant attacks and added: "This response will continue until Wana area is cleared of such sinister elements."

He said the government policy was to 'crush these extremists' and told critics from the MMA that the latest militant attacks should have 'opened their eyes'. "Don't we know who are these people who seek to create discord not only between people and the army but in the whole of Pakistan sometime on linguistic basis and sometime on religious basis?"

He accused militants of violating an accord reached between them and the authorities to restore peace in the area. MMA parliamentary leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed complained of what he called an organized terrorist group in Karachi giving shelter to perpetrators of violent acts. He said the Karachi ambush could not have been carried out by tribals from South Waziristan.

But MQM parliamentary leader Farooq Sattar said the Karachi attack could be the work of the same elements whose 'terrorist' designs had failed in Afghanistan and Kashmir.

PPP's Raja Pervez Ashraf said the violence gave the impression of the absence of any authority in the country. He blamed the situation on what he called the government's preoccupation with efforts to force opposition politicians to change loyalties.

PML-N parliamentary leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan accused the government of involving the country in "others' war" and said the president's uniform was the cause of all failures.

The house offered fateha for those killed in Karachi and the Wana incident. It unanimously adopted an MQM resolution condemning the Karachi killings and calling upon the government to immediately arrest and punish the 'extremists' involved.