Haqqani allegations: PM talks with political leadership

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani is taking political leadership of the country into confidence over the standoff with the US, Geo News reported.

The premier has talked to President Pakistan Muslim League-Q Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain, Chief of the Awami Muslim League Sheikh Rasheed, Awami National Party (ANP) President Asfand Yar Wali Khan, Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Syed Munawwar Hassan and President Jamiat-e-Ulema-i-Islam-F Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

On Saturday, rejecting the assertions of complicity with the Haqqanis or of proxy war, PM Gilani said it would only benefit the enemies of peace. "Blame-game is self-defeating. We strongly reject assertions of complicity with the Haqqanis or of proxy war. It will only benefit the enemies of peace."

"Only terrorists and militants will gain from any fissures and divisions. Pakistan's credentials and sacrifices in the counter-terrorism campaign are impeccable and unquestionable," the prime minister said in a policy statement during a briefing on floods in Pakistan for diplomats and international organizations here.

The move came against the backdrop of sharp US allegations that Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) supported the Haqqani group Washington blames for the recent attack on its embassy and other targets in Kabul.

In the most blunt remarks by a US official since Pakistan joined the US-led war on militancy in 2001, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, on Thursday testified before the US Senate that the Haqqani network is a "veritable arm" of the ISI.