A meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and attended by parliamentary leaders of political parties was given a detailed briefing by the Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani on the prevailing national security situation and its ramifications in future, a statement said.
The meeting was attended by President of PML (Q) Shujaat Hussain, President of ANP Asfandyar Wali Khan, PML (N) leaders Shahbaz Sharif and Nisar Ali Khan, MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar, President of BNP(A) Senator Israrullah Zehri, President of PPP(S) Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, leader of parliamentarians from FATA Munir Khan Orakzai, Chairman of parliamentary committee on National Security Raza Rabbani, Sadruddin Shah of PML (F), Muhammad Khan Sherani of JUI(F) and Engr Amir Muqam of PML.
Minister for Defence Ahmed Mukhtar, Minister of Finance Shaukat Fayyaz Tarin, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for Interior Rehman Malik, Governor of NWFP Awais Ahmed Ghani, Chief Minister of NWFP Amir Haidar Khan Hoti, DG-ISI; DG-IB and other senior government official were also present in the meeting.
The political leadership assembled together noted that there already exists across the board consensus to root out extremism and militancy while restoring the writ of the government. The political leadership observed that in spite of the successes in Malakand and Swat, the recent upsurge of terror incidents in the country were condemned and it was agreed that these elements pose a serious threat to the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan.
The political leaders appreciated the sacrifices and the on-going efforts of the Pak Army in this regard. In the given circumstances, the national consensus was reaffirmed to establish and maintain the writ of the government to weed out these elements.
Later in a brief talk with media, Minister for Information Qamar Zaman Kaira said there was consensus among the political leaders to go ahead against terrorism and extremism in the light of existing policy and take measures against this menace. The Minister neither denied nor affirmed when asked whether the meeting decided to launch operation in South Waziristan, and said: "You would get the details of the decision taken in the meeting in a press release shortly." He said the meeting vowed to wipe out terrorism.