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Clinton visit: Qazi warns against bargaining national interests

Recorder Report

LAHORE: Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami, Qazi Hussein Ahmed, has said that the dialogues between Islamabad and Washington during the visit of US President, Bill Clinton, to Pakistan should be based on international relations, justice and equity.

In a policy statement issued here on Wednesday, Qazi claimed that the nation would hold military rulers responsible for bargaining national interests 'just for the sake of some dollars'.

He said Clinton will be welcomed as per Islamic traditions but Pakistan want friendship with US as an independent and sovereign country. He hoped that Clinton would respect dignity and sovereignty of the host country.

The JI Chief warned that US pressure on Pakistan for accepting its conditions would not yield good results. He said it should be remembered that this was not a matter of any person or government but a matter of 140 million people who would not accept hegemony of any other country.

He said that stance of the nation on Kashmir and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was very clear and it would never accept any deviation from it.