Govt wants Dr Afia’s repatriation to Pakistan: FM

ISLAMABAD:Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday assured the National Assembly that Pakistan embassy in Washington was in constant contact with Dr Afia Siddqui and efforts were on hand for her repatriation to Pakistan. Speaking in the National Assembly, he said the government was pursuing her case with US authorities through all legal means.
Earlier, PML (N) parliamentary leader in the house Chaudhry Nisar said Ambassador Hussain Haqqani should personally contact Dr Afia and a team of lawyers should be sent from Pakistan to plead her case.
He said the parliamentarians were ready to bear the cost if the government could not do so.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the government will try to fulfill all its responsibilities in the case.
He said at present their main concern was her health and providing her with halal food as in the jail she was on a vegetarian diet.
After getting counselor access, he said, Dr Afia seemed weak and harassed and she raised her concern over the food that was provided to her by the US jail authorities.
He said she has also demanded a copy of Quran and facility to offer prayers.
Her family, he added, has appreciated the assistance that Dr Afia has so far got from Pakistan embassy.
Qureshi said her lawyer has asked her not to speak and that is why the government of Pakistan has limited information about the case except that she was brought to New York from Afghanistan where she allegedly tried to snatch a gun from a US marine.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali said they will raise her issue at every fora as the allegation of Dr Afia snatching a gun from a US soldier did not seem very convincing.
He said holding her trial in the US was against all international rules and regulations as she is a Pakistani national arrested from Afghanistan.
Chaudhry Nisar said if there were any allegations against her, she should be tried in a Pakistani court after repatriating her to her home country.
Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said a joint resolution should be passed by the house adding his party was with the government on the issue of Dr Afia.
Farah Naz Isphani said she has been constantly following the case and Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington is in contact with Dr Afia.
The members also raised the issue of operation in Bajaur Agency in which a large number of innocent persons have also been killed.
The foreign minister said it is government’s priority that there should be minimum collateral damage during operation against terrorists.
He reiterated that the government wants to engage in political dialogue with those who are peace loving.
The government, he added, will look after the socio economic needs of law abiding people of the FATA and address the poverty issues in their areas.
That is why, Qureshi said, the government wants to set up Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) to provide them with job opportunities.
He said outsiders, particularly Uzbeks, Chechens and Arabs were active in FATA whom the government will have to deal with an iron hand to bring peace in the area.
During the operation, he said, a number of foreign militants, some of them ‘well known’, were also hit.
He said negotiations can never be held with the hardened criminals, who engage in terrorism.