Secrecy shrouds Wali’s stay in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD, October 06 (Internews): Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik has refused to disclose the precise premises where North West Frontier Province’s ruling Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali is staying since moving to Islamabad last week after narrowly escaping an assassination attempt by a suicide bomber at his Charsadda home.

News reports had said that Asfandyar and his close family members were residing in the heavily fortified President House.

When contacted, ANP leader Zahid Khan said Monday he has met Wali who has not talked about the duration of his stay in Islamabad. He said that the ANP chief had to leave Charsadda in emergency after the attack on him.

Khan said that the ANP president would attend Wednesday’s joint session of Parliament and after that ‘We would think over the duration of his stay in Islamabad”.

Malik confirmed, when contacted, that the ANP president was in Islamabad, but said he has not talked to him since his arrival here. He said that since the launching of operation in Swat the top ANP leadership has been “under pressure” and become “prime target” of terrorists.

The advisor said the agencies investigating the Wali Bagh suicide bombing have not so far found any clue about the perpetrators. However, he said there was no doubt that the Tehrik-e-Taliban was involved in the attack.

Asked about beefing up security of the senior ANP leaders, Malik said that having its own government in the NWFP the ANP was taking care of it in a satisfactory manner.

He said Pakistan was not only doing what it could to combat terrorism, but was engaged in war because its border has been attacked.

The advisor said that high profile targets were struck by the terrorists to attract global publicity He said the attacks on the Marriott Hotel and Asfandyar Wali fell in this category.

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