NEWS

Rediff.com » News

SAARC meet to be on time: Pakistan
By K J M Varma in Islamabad
December 26, 2003 16:30 IST

Pakistan on Friday ruled out postponing next month's South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit in Islamabad in the light of the two attempts on President Pervez Musharraf's life.

Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said the attacks on December 14 and 25 were aimed at destabilising the country and damaging its reputation abroad.

He said the December 14 attack was made barely hours after Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri arrived on a state visit and Thursday's attack took place just days ahead of the SAARC summit, which is scheduled to begin on January 4.

"We are aware of the intentions of the perpetrators of these attacks. But despite that we have done our best to evolve a strategy to provide foolproof security to all the delegates attending the SAARC summit," Hayat said.

Musharraf himself had allayed apprehensions of any security breaches during the SAARC summit. He said on Thursday that terrorists were targeting only him.

K J M Varma in Islamabad
© 2024 Rediff.com