Army, agencies to lead war on terror, agree civil, military leaders

ISLAMABAD: The civil and military leadership on Monday reaffirmed that the army and intelligence agencies will continue to play a leading role in the fight against terrorism, which was proceeding smoothly and without discrimination whatsoever with complete consensus of all the stakeholders.

The reaffirmation came during a high echelon security meeting held here with Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in the chair.Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Raheel Sharif and Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (DG ISI) Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar were among those who attended the meeting.

According to a press release, General Raheel called on the prime minister at the PM House.Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar and Director General ISI Lt. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar were also present.

Matters pertaining to national and regional security came under discussion.The meeting expressed concern over the publication of a fabricated news story in daily Dawn (last week) pertaining to security issues purportedly discussed in a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC).

The participants were unanimous that the story was clearly in violation of universally-acknowledged principles of reporting on national security issues risking the vital state interests through inclusion of inaccurate and misleading contents having no relevance to the actual discussion and facts.

The participants felt it was imperative that the print and electronic media refrained from speculative reporting on issues of national security and interests.The prime minister took a serious notice of the violation and directed that those responsible should be identified for stern action.