http://www.dawn.com/2004/08/31/top5.htm
'RAW camps in Balochistan'
By Our Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 30: Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yusuf on
Monday said that involvement of external elements, including the
Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), in the
current acts of terrorism in Balochistan could not be ruled out.
Speaking at the Meet the Press programme of Karachi Press Club, he
defended the construction of Gwadar port and military cantonments, and
blamed 'anti-Pakistan forces' for fomenting trouble in the
strategically located Balochistan.
"Though dialogue for normalization is continuing, as long as Kashmir
is not settled they will continue to create difficulties for
Pakistan," said Jam Yusuf in an apparent reference to the Indian RAW.
In support of his contention with regard to foreign involvement, Jam
Yusuf referred to various training camps in which, according to him,
terrorists were being harboured and paid huge sums to create trouble.
He said that none of the Baloch wadera had the capacity to finance
such an operation. He said that some of those involved in terrorist
activities had fled to the Gulf. "Conspiracies are hatched against
Balochistan by anti-Pakistan forces who do not want Gwadar port to
become economic hub in the region," he said.
The Balochistan chief minister said that RAW was running terrorist
camps in Iran and Afghanistan. "It has now set up 30 to 40 such camps
in Balochistan, each with training facility for 30 people who are paid
Rs10,000 monthly.
"The monthly expenses of each such camp are over Rs0.4 million. The
money is being supplied from abroad," he alleged. He promised that
names of the held terrorists would be disclosed once the ongoing
investigations concluded.
He told a questioner that "Al Qaeda is not involved in these
activities." He also accused terrorists, trained in Punjab, of causing
sectarian violence in his province. He denied that any operation had
been launched by the army in Balochistan but conceded that an
'operation cleanup' had been launched by the local administration with
the assistance of Frontier Constabulary, Levies and the Navy.
"Several terrorists have been arrested in this operation and arms,
ammunition, satellite phones, wireless sets, maps and anti-Pakistan
literature recovered from their camps. Some terrorists have also given
up voluntarily," he said.
Jam Yousuf said that nobody should object to establishment of army
cantonments in Balochistan. Wherever felt necessary, cantonments would
be established in the province, he said.
He pointed out that cantonments had existed at many places in the
province before but no hue and cry was made. Replying to a question,
he said China was a time-tested friend of Pakistan and didn't raise
any unnecessary hue and cry over the killing of its engineers working
on the Gwadar port project in last May.
"If US engineers were killed in Gwadar, it would have declared
Pakistan a terrorist country," he added. He said that Gwadar port
would become the hub of economic activity in the future and help the
province in increasing revenue. He hoped that it would one day demand
share in the NFC on revenue generation basis, as was being done by
Sindh.
He advised the opponents of the mega project to "swallow the bitter
pill" because some sacrifice had to be made for future development. He
stressed that nobody would deprive the Balochis of their land but at
the same time pointed out that people themselves had sold their land
to investors.
Replying to a question, Jam Mohammad Yusuf maintained that he
considered all Baloch politicians, including Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti as
'loyal Pakistanis' and urged them to play their role in the
development of their province.
"Every Baloch is a nationalist and they love their land as much as any
politician. Balochistan is not a personal property of anybody. The
past governments did nothing for its development except making hollow
promises.
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