ISLAMABAD: In a rather strong statement, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani asked Frontier Corps and other law-enforcement agencies on Saturday to respect the mandate of Balochistan government and help it restore law and order in the province.

“The mandate of the Balochistan government has to be respected. The FC is bound to assist the provincial administration,” Mr Gilani said while talking to a group of journalists.

The FC has been accused of committing human rights violations in the past. On their part, the FC officials have been blaming the provincial government for the poor law and order situation in the country’s biggest province.

The provincial authorities recently sought the federal government’s intervention and asked it to help improve its relations with the FC.

Mr Gilani said he had already directed all federal agencies to fully cooperate with the provincial government, which is responsible for law and order in the province. “I have spoken to army chief, director-general ISI and other officials and all are ready to help.”

Analysing the Balochistan crisis, Mr Gilani said the problems mostly were related to the law and order situation. “These problems are stopping the Aghaz-i-Haqooq-i-Balochistan package from delivering the desired results.”

Mr Gilani said he was busy in addressing the socio-economic and administrative reasons behind the alienation of Baloch nationalists. “Had it not been for the missing persons and the mutilated bodies, there would have been an unprecedented forward movement towards improving the situation.”

He said he had asked the elected politicians of the province to suggest ways to resolve the crisis that already attracted international attention.

Mr Gilani said he was not sure in which case the Supreme Court had asked him to send a letter to Switzerland to reopen a graft case against President Asif Ali Zardari.

On Thursday, a Supreme Court bench fixed March 21 as the deadline for the premier to write the letter.

The court is separately hearing a contempt case against Mr Gilani and a case about the implementation of a judgment on the National Reconciliation Ordinance. The bench had observed that pendency in the contempt proceedings should not affect the implementation of the judgment.

The prime minister said he would seek the advice of his counsel and take a decision accordingly.

APP adds: Mr Gilani said his government was ready to hold a jirga on the issue of Balochistan and that consultations in this regard were already under way.

“I feel that if the provincial government wants we should hold a jirga or an all-party conference on the issue,” he remarked. “We are ready to organise whatever they want us to.”