‘Solid evidence of foreign hand in Balochistan’

ISLAMABAD: The countryís premier intelligence agencies Tuesday provided the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) with what they termed to be ìsolidî evidence of foreign involvement in Balochistan.
The PCNS meeting was chaired by Mian Raza Rabbani Tuesday at Parliament House. Chiefs of Pakistani security and intelligence agencies briefed the committee on the issue of missing persons in Balochistan as well as on other province-related concerns.
Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General (Retd) Zaheerul Islam, Defence Secretary Nargis Sethi, IG Police Balochistan and other senior officials belonging to the countryís security and intelligence agencies briefed the committee on the missing persons issue and filed an official report.
Sources present during the meeting confirmed that the committee was provided with solid and substantiated evidence of foreign interference in Balochistan. They further revealed that the report presented to the committee did not specifically mention the names of the countries allegedly behind the involvement, but contained certified evidence pointing towards such involvement.
According to reports, the committee is due to compile its report on the basis of intelligence agency reports and will present its findings to the government within a week. Later addressing media persons, Chairman PCNS Mian Raza Rabbani admitted that the security agencies had presented hard evidence of foreign involvement in Balochistan. But he refrained from naming any country, stipulating, “It is not proper to name any country at this stage.” He held that security and intelligence agencies had given a detailed briefing on the issue of missing person and the committee would present its report along with recommendations to the government next week.
In response to a question, the chairman said that the committee had taken all information pertaining to missing persons on board, and if needed legislation would

be enacted to resolve the issue.
To another question, he said that Tuesdayís meeting was held in front of the camera and it was not proper to give details of the missing persons. ìBut the total number of missing persons was the same, which was provided to the Supreme Court,î he confirmed.
Rabbani also revealed that the committee had collected information about the missing persons issue from victimsí families and also from the civil society. Inspector General (IG) Frontier Corps (FC) Major General Nadir Zaib and the Balochistan Home Secretary also briefed the committee.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Zaib said that suggestions on how to solve the missing persons issue had been submitted to the government and it was now their responsibility to work on them and solve the issue.
Interior Secretary Khawaja Siddique Akbar Tuesday faced the parliamentary committee for intense grilling for being late and was not allowed to enter the closed-door meeting once it was underway. The committee meeting was scheduled to begin at 11:00am, but despite a delay of 20 minutes the interior secretary still failed to make it on time, and upon arriving at the Parliament House he found the doors closed.
Senator Raza Rabbani directed the staff not to open the door of Committee Room No 5 after Akbar arrived 25 minutes late for the briefing.
After the meeting, Mian Raza Rabbani affirmed that parliamentary discipline must be maintained during closed-door meetings, and when majority of the participants could reach on time there was no excuse for others to be late.
Online adds: Sources present during Tuesdayís PCNS briefing told Online that the Balochistan Home Secretary comprehensively briefed the committee and informed the gathering that training camps of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) were being operated in Afghanistan, and added that FC had been deployed in the province to protect 80 percent of important government assets.It was also revealed that the committee would review articles of the ìEvidence Actî and laws against terrorism in its next sitting.