Pak govt to skip probe into army HQ terror attack

The Pakistan government is unlikely to order a probe into the audacious terror attack on the Army's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi which rocked the troubled nation last Saturday. According to sources, the Gilani government fears that any such inquiry could lead to the downfall of the government, in similar fashion to the Junejo government, which fell apart, following the Ojhri camp tragedy in 1988.

Sources privy to the Gilani government said that fearing the same fate as that of the Mohammad Khan Junejo's government, Gilani decided against calling a probe into the GHQ attack and instead took a flight to Beijing for a six-day tour, The News reports. It may be noted that hundreds of men, women and children were killed and scores wounded when a blast in the ammunition depot of Ojhri camp in April 1988 made shells and rockets of various shapes and sizes rain down across the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

The then prime minister, Mohammad Khan Junejo, had appointed two committees, one military and the other parliamentary, to probe the military disaster. Junejo's action miffed the then President General Zia-ul-Haq so much that he dismissed the Prime Minister for failing to implement Islam in the country. Instead of ordering an inquiry both President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani sent 'congratulation' messages to Army's top brass for the 'successful' completion of the GHQ commando operation, which clearly suggests that the Pakistan Peoples Party government is in no mood to put an axe its on foot.