ANP chief for joint strategy against terrorism as APC gets underway

ISLAMABAD: Awami National Party (ANP) chief, Asfandyar Wali Khan has called for concerted efforts to find out a solution for the menace of terrorism which he said was a national issue.

Addressing the opening session of the multi-party conference organized by his party to devise a joint strategy to address the issue of terrorism on Thursday, Khan said that instead of ignoring the menace there was a need to find a solution to the issue as it was haunting entire nation.

Delegations from the PML-N JUI-F, JUP, Pakhtunkhwa MAP, BNP-A, ST, PML-F Hazara Democratic Party, lawyers’ bodies and parliamentarians from FATA attended the first session of the all parties conference (APC).

According to ANP leader Senator Zahid Khan government allied parties would attend the second session of the APC.

Asfandyar Wali Khan further said that the elections were round the corner but the issue of terrorism was not going to end with the polls.

He said governments would keep coming and going but “We should put up efforts to protect future of the nation”.

Khan said a joint communiqué would be released in light of the suggestions presented by the participants of the APC.

The APC comes two weeks after TTP, which waged a deadly campaign inside Pakistan, offered it was ready to hold talks with the government if Nawaz Sharif, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Syed Munawar Hasan acted as guarantors.