Zardari commands PPP to defend KLB

ISLAMABAD - A high-level meeting of Pakistan Peoples Party on Friday night decided to allay apprehensions
of all the stakeholders including Armed Forces on Kerry-Lugar Bill (KLB) and defend it in the Parliament with full
force.
Held at Aiwan-i-Sadr with President Asif Ali Zardari in the chair, the meeting discussed the PPPs ostensibly
weak position on Kerry-Lugar Bill where all the three coalition partners - MQM, JUI-F and ANP - had distanced
themselves from the government, while opposition parties were determined to fight tooth and nail against the bill
in its present form.
The meeting, which was attended by Federal Ministers Syed Naveed Qamar, Qamar Zaman Kiara, Dr. Babar
Awan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Nazar Mohammad Gondal and a few close aides of President Zardari,
discussed the situation obtaining out of the strong reaction coming from all directions on the Kerry-Lugar Bill.
The absence of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani from this very important meeting raised many
questions.
It was decided in the meeting that PPP would forcefully defend KLB in and outside the Parliament and would try
to dispel the negative impression associated with it. Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs also gave a detailed
briefing to President Zardari on his recently concluded visit to America. The President and some other key
members of his trusted aides will hold meetings with the coalition partners and allay their apprehensions on
KLB.
It was further decided in the meeting that Foreign Minister as the head of a committee comprising MPs would
soon be holding meetings with the coalition parties heads to woo their support on the bill, while he would also
be meeting the Army leadership to apprise them of the KLB and his recent meetings with the US leadership.
The sources privy to the deliberations of the meeting disclosed to TheNation that President Zardari was not
happy over the silence of some party stalwarts and directed PPP leadership to defend it both inside and outside
the Parliament.
The sources in the party disclosed that President Zardari wanted to get the bill through from the Parliament at all
costs, as according to him the future good relations between United States and Pakistan would greatly depend
on it.
Meanwhile, in another development, keeping in view the strong reaction from some of the most powerful
stakeholders against the KLB in Pakistan, the United States had moved in sending the people having say in the
political circles in Pakistan to woo their support for the otherwise much controversial piece of legislation done by
American Congress and Senate.
The knowledgeable sources in the government quarters informed that the former US ambassador to Pakistan
Ms Nancy Powell came here and held meetings with important personalities in the federal capital.
A source in the President House informed TheNation that American Ambassador Anne W. Patterson also had a
detailed meeting with President Zardari on Thursday night. She discussed the controversy against KLB with the
President.
Another source in the government disclosed that keeping in view the strong reaction against the KLB, one of the
movers of the bill in US Parliament, Senator John Kerry, would be arriving here, most likely on Saturday, to
pacify the reaction against the bill.