Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani today spoke to Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain on phone and discussed with him issues regarding Sindh Assembly’s incident.

According to a statement issued from MQM’s London Secretariat, Prime Minster Gilani has regretted the inappropriate behavior of PPP provincial ministers during the Sindh Assembly’s session.

Speaking to Altaf Hussain, the premier said that President Asif Ali Zardari, taking strict notice of the incident, reprimanded provincial ministers Agha Siraj Durrani and Zulfiqar Ali Mirza and stopped them from making any provocative statement.

Gilani said he met with President Zardari immediately after the Sindh Assembly’s chaos and informed him about the unfortunate incident. The prime minister deplored that better atmosphere of reconciliation created after President Zardari’s meeting with MQM was spoiled.

“President Asif Ali Zardari has reprimanded Agha Siraj Durrani and Zulfiqar Ali Mirza in front of me. We all want to go along together, but you two are destroying my reconciliatory policy,” Gilani told Altaf.

The prime minister continued: “I have no doubt in my mind that we will be partners in future also and we don’t want to waste our strength by opposing the MQM.”

He opined that the PPP-MQM alliance had given a strength to the business community.

Meanwhile, MQM chief Altaf Hussain thanked the Prime Minister for taking immediate notice of the incident and assured that he would ask his party to maintain policy of reconciliation.

Police investigation of an accidental death of the retired army officer, who was struck by the motorcade of the Chief Secretary of Punjab, last week, is being termed ‘partial’ and ‘unfair’ by Pakistani media.

Issue has become so intense that Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer had to personally visit the residence of the victim. Talking to media afterwards Salman Taseer said that there seems to be “the law of jungle” prevalent in the province he is supposed to govern.

Colonel Retired Muhammad Ikram died in CM Hospital Lahore after he was allegedly hit by Punjab Chief Secretary Javed Mehmood’s car. Col Muhammad Ikram (retired), was on his way to the Allama Iqbal University sub-campus on a motorcycle when he was allegedly struck by the car of Chief Secretary Javed Mahmood near Girja Chowk in Lahore.

The chief secretary was returning from Lahore airport after seeing-off Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani .

According to media reports Chief Secretary Javed Mehmood left the retired colonel critically injured on the road. After the hit-and-run incident , the victim was rushed to CM Hospital where he died.

Azam Ikram, son of the deceased, told an Urdu language news channel “Express News” that his family will spare no expense, and knock every door to seek justice.

The investigation team, probing into the death of Colonel (Retd) Ikram was quick in declaring the Chief Secretary Punjab and his driver ‘not guilty’.

Family of the deceased has declared the investigations ‘partial’ and ‘un-fair’.

The investigation team declared the Chief Secretary and his driver ‘not guilty’ as their vehicle was withing speed limit, and alleged that Col Ikram had violated the traffic signal. The report also claims that the traffic warden and gunmen of the Chief Secretary took the injured Colonel to the CM Hospital.

The family of the deceased remains unsatisfied as they were not included in the investigation. Azam Ikram, son of late Col Ikram said, “justice cannot be served till the Chief Secretary is removed from his post.”

Punjab Chief Secretary Javed Mehmood’s car, involved in the accident was impounded by the police for investigations after media questioned why was the motorcycle held by the authority and not Chief Secretary’s car.

Following criticism by the media Lahore Police has arrested driver allegedly responsible for the accident.

Talking to media after visiting victim’s residence Governor Salman Taseer said that the Chief Secretary should be suspended and an independent inquiry should be carried out to probe the death of retired Army Officer.

Answering to a question, the governor said that he could not understand why the Chief Secretary was in such a hurry.

Criticizing the inquiry team probing the incident, Salman Taseer said that even FIR was not registered which is the right of every citizen

MULTAN: Member of MQM Coordination Committee Iftikhar Akbar Randhawa Saturday claimed that the public meeting of his party scheduled to be held in Lahore on February 28 will prove that MQM is not just a party of Sindh but of the entire Pakistan.

He said this while talking to journalists here at Multan Press Club.

Iftkhar Akbar Randhawa said MQM is the only political party that is struggling for the rights of 98 percent people belonging to the poor segments of the society.

He said Altaf Hussain aspires for establishment of a system based on justice by eliminating price hike, unemployment and corruption.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Monday regretted the insinuation emanating from the US about Pakistan’s sincerity in the war against terror. He asked which other country of the world had made more sacrifices than Pakistan in the campaign to eradicate the common enemy. He refuted the reports about the existence of a Quetta Shura or the Afghan Taliban leadership in Pakistan and reiterated Pakistan’s desire to fence its border with Afghanistan in case the US could persuade the Afghan government to do so.

Talking to a US delegation led by Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the US Senate’s Armed Services Committee, Gilani said greater trust building was in the interest of a long-term strategic partnership between the two countries. He underscored the need to bridge the existing trust deficit between Pakistan and the United States. The prime minister reassured the delegation of his government’s sincere efforts to build upon their traditionally cordial bilateral ties, spanning over 60 years.

However, he urged the US to ensure an early disbursement of the long overdue payments under the Coalition Support Fund, the speedy provision of drone technology and sharing of credible and actionable intelligence with Pakistani agencies.

He urged the US and other major world powers to use their influence with India to help resolve the Kashmir dispute to enable Pakistan to exclusively focus on its western border.

Gilani hoped that the US and the international community would fulfill their commitments to support Pakistan in building the capacity of its law enforcement agencies and undertake the required development in the under-developed areas in order to address the root cause of militancy.

Senator Levin said that bipartisan consultations would be organized to resolve the issue as soon as possible. He appreciated Pakistan’s critical and vital role as the frontline state in the war against terror and lauded the success achieved by the Pakistan’s armed forces in Malakand and South Waziristan regions. Levin said he was more optimistic than ever that the Pakistan-US ties were destined to go from strength to strength. The US senator assured Prime Minister Gilani that disbursement of the Coalition Support Fund would be fast-tracked and support to Pakistan’s exports to US markets would be increased.

President Asif Zardari is leaving for Syria on a three-day visit on Thursday to offer his condolence on the death of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s younger brother Majid al-Assad, who passed away last month.

The president will also visit Dubai on his return from Damascus. He will visit Turkey in the last week of this month, where preparations are underway in Ankara to host a new trilateral summit with Afghanistan and Pakistan, to be followed by a regional conference on Afghanistan with the participation of neighbours of the war-torn country.

At the trilateral summit, President Abdullah Gull, Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari will discuss host of issues. The summit is expected to take place at the end of this month, diplomatic sources told media here on Saturday.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani cancelled his trip to Devos to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) as an austerity measure. The participation to the WEF annual meeting is by invitation only and strictly limited to the criteria and quota of each stakeholder group.

Prime Minister Gilani is designating a federal minister to represent Pakistan in the WEF, the sources said. President Zardari would visit Dubai second time in a fortnight, the sources said.