PML and MQM called for praising the role of armed forces

ISLAMABAD: The All Parties Conference preferred not to praise the role of armed forces in ongoing military offensive against Taliban militants in Swat.

A 16-point resolution was adopted at the end of the APC only after deleting paragraph-5 from the original draft.

‘...endorsed the role of armed and security forces of Pakistan in the present situation and grieved the Shahadat of personnel of these forces,’ the paragraph-5 in the original draft resolution read.

But the final draft, approved by the APC, did not comprise that paragraph.

According to PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the pro-army paragraph was deleted at the behest of PML-Nawaz, Jamat-e-Islami, Jamiat Ulema Islam and other parties.

He claimed the PML-N and JI threatened to boycott the meeting if the paragraph remained in the final draft.

Shujaat claimed only his party and the Muttahida Quami Movement called for praising the role of armed forces.

He claimed a two-hour debate was held on this particular issue, but Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani decided to delete the pro-army paragraph to save the APC.