May 04, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 27, 1429

KARACHI, May 3: Rejecting the government’s claims about a halt to the military operation in Balochistan, the secretary-general of the National Party, Mir Hasil Bizenjo, said that such reports were misleading.

He said that the armed forces had not been withdrawn from the province and were still deployed at their posts.

Talking to Dawn, he said that army troops were still deployed in Khulu, Dera Bugti, Gwadar and other parts of the province. In such a situation, the government’s claim that it had stopped the military operation was baseless.

Mr Bizenjo said that his party firmly believed that the present government was also not sincere about resolving the Balochistan issue and was pursuing the policy of its predecessors.

He deplored that the present government had also failed to recover the missing persons allegedly picked up by law-enforcement agencies.

The NP leader reiterated his demand that the government should immediately withdraw its forces from Marri-Dera Bugti and other areas and stop all its army action, recover the missing persons from the custody of the government agencies and release the detained Baloch leaders and workers.

He said that peace could not prevail in the province unless the government took immediate action on these vital issues and created an atmosphere conducive to political talks.

Mr Bizenjo said that under the present circumstances none of the nationalist parties would agree to hold talks with the government.