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Western diplomats meet MMA chief

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Oct. 17. Reflecting the anxiety of the West over the rise of the alliance of Pakistan religious parties, western diplomats based here are establishing contact with leaders of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). Senior diplomats of the United States and Britain have called on the MMA leader and chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Qazi Hussain Ahmad and exchanged views with him on the country's domestic politics and future.

``They asked us about our policies and future plans and we told them in very clear terms that we wanted friendly contact and ties with the outside world keeping our independence and sovereignty secure,'' Mr. Ahmad told reporters.

The MMA leader told the diplomats that ``neither we shall support terrorism nor will we allow anybody to use our soil for terrorism in any other country. But we shall ourselves do this work. We need no help or the presence of foreign troops to accomplish this task''.

He stressed the need for a national consensus on all important issues and policies. ``We shall not join any government, which is not prepared to implement the recommendations of the Islamic ideology council,'' he said.

In a related development the chief of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan assured Mr. Ahmad of full support on the issues of `restoration of the Constitution, supremacy of Parliament and an independent foreign policy'. Mr. Khan, who could not contest the elections due to the graduation clause, is opposed to any compromise with Gen. Musharraf.

Mr. Khan called on the JI chief at his residence and congratulated him on the success of the MMA in the general elections. Both the leaders discussed the current political situation and the formation of the future government in the country.

Nawabzada stressed the need for restoration of the supremacy of the Constitution. Mr. Ahmad rejected the idea of any `institution' being above Parliament. ``We have promised the masses an independent foreign policy, restoration of the economy and the Constitution and to fulfil these, we have nominated Maulana Fazalur Rehman as our candidate for the premiership'', he said. He sought Nawabzada's support on the issue and asked him to use his influence to muster support for the MMA.

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