Islamabad, December 11
Efforts are being made for national reconciliation and the government is in contact with a number of important politicians, including those outside Pakistan, says Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.
“President Pervez Musharraf himself has decided to go for greater national reconciliation in the larger national interest,” the Minister said. Speaking at a news conference here on Friday, Sheikh Rashid said that all politicians, including Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, were “very much in contact with the government”.
However, he said that some politicians were in direct contact with the government, while others had been approached through mediators, including senior journalists. “While there is no direct contact with Nawaz Sharif, members of his family are very much in contact with the government,” the minister said.
He said that the government had been maintaining close contact with a number of politicians for a few months. “We are doing our job, sometimes openly and sometimes quietly and you should have confidence in us to deliver as far as national reconciliation is concerned.”
The Minister declined to comment when asked whether President Musharraf had contacted Ms Bhutto on the telephone during his recent foreign visit. When pressed further, he said: “I (have) told you what I had to say ... Please don’t try to read much between the lines.”
