QUETTA, Dec 11: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has said that the LFO issue will be resolved through mutual understanding and warned the MMA leadership against hurling threats of starting an anti-government campaign after Dec 18.

Addressing a press conference at the end of his three-day visit to Quetta on Thursday, he dilated on war on terrorism, resource distribution, extremism, Gwadar seaport project, etc.

The president was surprised that the MMA leaders were issuing threats of movement against the government though they knew there was progress on the LFO issue.

In fact, he pointed out, the MMA now wanted to take political advantage of the situation. It wanted to show people that they had forced the government to resolve the issue by hurling agitation threats.

“We cannot be frightened by such threats,” he declared and said “let us see what happens after Dec 18”. He warned that such negative tactics would jeopardize the efforts aimed at resolving the issue.

In reply to a question, he said negotiations were continuing between the government and the MMA and added that he himself had contacted the MMA indirectly.

“Yes, I have involved myself indirectly to resolve the issue because Pakistan’s image at the international level is being affected,” Gen Musharraf said.

He said talks were going on the issues of the president’s election, 58(2)B, National Security Council, appointment of armed forces’ chiefs, local bodies, his uniform and appointment of judges of higher courts. Chances were bright about the success of negotiations, he remarked.

Answering a question about the interference of the United States in Pakistan’s affairs, the president denied American troops were carrying out any operation in the country. Pakistani forces were capable of dealing with any situation and they were involved in any action taken against the Taliban or Al Qaeda activists, he stressed.

He said Pakistan faced threats from sectarianism, extremism and terrorism, which were bringing a bad name to it. He said Afghanistan, India and many other countries were accusing Pakistan of helping such elements. It was a matter of concern that even China had lodged such complaints during his recent visit to Beijing, he added.

He warned that the European Union could impose a ban on Pakistan’s textile quota if it failed to control this situation. This would result in closure of a large number of textile mills and loss of employment to hundreds of thousand of people, he said.

Sanctions would also come from other countries, he said. These countries expressed apprehension that extremists could reach the nuclear weapons of the country, he added.

The country must make efforts to eliminate such elements, he said and urged political parties, public representatives, police and the administration to jointly launch a struggle against extremists.

Referring to the next NFC award, Gen Musharraf supported the provinces’ stance that they should be given maximum resources after reducing the share of the centre.

He assured the Balochistan government that the gas royalty issue would be resolved and their financial grievances would be redressed.

In reply to a question, he said the federal government wanted the provinces to reach a consensus formula for the distribution of resources. He said he would handle the matter himself if they failed to reach consensus.

He said the government had plans to establish cantonments in Kohlu, Sui and Gwadar which would help maintain the law and order situation in those areas.

Referring to the Gwadar deep seaport project, the president said the first phase of this mega project would be completed by the end of next year while work was in progress on both sides of Coastal Highway from Gwadar to Pasni, and Ormara to Pasni, which would be competed by March 2004. However, he stressed, the main task would be to run the port with efficiency and in accordance with international standard to attract shippers.

“We would provide a good administrative infrastructure to run the new port,” he promised. The port and the town of Gwadar would be run on the pattern of Karachi where KPT managed the port while KDA the city, he said.

The Gwadar Development Authority would be headed by Mir Ahmed Bakhsh Lehri, he said.

Gen Musharraf did not agree to a suggestion that local people had been ignored while recruiting staff for the port. He said the head of the GDA was from Balochistan while 366 out of a total of 427 workers employed by the Chinese company were from Balochistan. Similarly, he added, 750 out of 1,000 workers at the Saindak were from Balochistan.