May 31, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 25, 1429

QUETTA, May 30: The chief organiser of the Baloch Republican Party, Nawabzada Bramdagh Bugti, has refused to hold talks with the government within the framework of the federation.

Addressing a news conference on phone from an unspecified place on Friday, Bramdagh Bugti said that resistance movement was aimed at protecting the land and resources of the Baloch people.

The BRP, formally a faction of the Jamhoori Watan Party, was launched recently with a new flag and manifesto.

Bramdagh Bugti said: “We are owners of our land and resources and there is no need to talk with others on our resources. Talks will be held only with those who accept our right on Balochistan’s resources.”

He said the government’s rhetoric about reconciliation was nothing but an attempt to deceive the Baloch people. The government talked about reconciliation, he added, but it continued the military operation in province.

He said that no government representative had contacted him so far and described Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi and Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani as powerless people. They could not solve problems of the province, he added.

The BRP leader said he did not support the killing of settlers, but said that it was a reaction to the military operation in the province.