ISLAMABAD: One of the three parliamentary committees which were to be briefed in the General Headquarters (GHQ) on the security situation on Thursday has refused to attend the briefing, DawnNews reported.

Senator Raza Rabbani who heads the Parliamentary Committee on National Security said on Tuesday that rules do not allow the committee to take briefing from “other organizations”.

Rabbani said that the committee was a part of the National Assembly and it was superior to the military headquarters.

If the GHQ wants to brief the committee then it has to come to us, he added.

The Parliamentary Committee on National Security, the Senate Standing Committee on Defence and the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs were asked to attend the briefing to be held at the GHQ.

According to sources, letters were sent to the General Headquarters and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) by the committees seeking a briefing on the security situation, relations with the US and challenges facing the country and it was decided that the committees would be briefed jointly.

Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Director General of ISI Lt-Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha were to brief the committees on Thursday.

Members of the Senate Committee on Defence had recently visited the headquarters of the three military services.