Thaindian News

Islamabad, Sep 30 (IANS) The All Parties Conference (APC), bringing together political leaders across the spectrum following strained ties with the US, had sent out a message that Pakistanis were united and would not compromise on national security, participants said.

The conference Thursday was attended by over 50 political leaders who deliberated upon the country’s security scenario.

The US-Pakistan relationship deteriorated after Washington accused Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of supporting the Haqqani network.

After the conference, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed of the Awami Muslim League said all the leaders had decided to stand with Pakistan Army and country’s security agencies, reported Associated Press of Pakistan Friday.

“We all were unanimous that no one would be allowed to attack the country’s sovereignty,” he stressed.

Ahmed said those at the meeting demanded that the government should review the country’s foreign policy.

Imran Khan, head of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, said he participated in the conference to show the world that Pakistanis are one on the issue of country’s defence and other important national matters.

Addressing the meet, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had said that Islamabad cannot be pressurised to “do more”.

Gilani urged the people to stand united to confront the challenges facing the country.

He rejected the US officials’ statements that the ISI-supported Haqqani network was behind recent attacks in Afghanistan, including the Sep 11 truck bomb attack and the Sep 13 assault on the US embassy in Kabul.

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, Sep 22 accused the Pakistani government of supporting the Al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network. Mullen called the Haqqani network a “veritable arm” of Pakistan’s ISI, a charge Islamabad denied.

Gilani said: “Pakistan cannot be pressurised to do more.”