ISLAMABAD - A high-level UN delegation currently in Pakistan on a fact-finding mission has requested the Pakistani government to arrange its meeting with the military authorities in connection with the missing persons issue while some political parties have contacted the world body’s team of experts to share their input on the enforced disappearances of civilians.Requesting anonymity, a member of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) said that they had requested the foreign ministry to communicate their request to the military leadership for a meeting on the issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan and elsewhere.The official request was made on Monday, the member said, adding that the foreign ministry is expected to forward the request to the defence ministry on Wednesday (today), after necessary documentation, to be sent to the General Headquarters (GHQ). “We haven’t received any response from the relevant departments as yet. We hope that our request would be entertained before the completion of our mission,” the dignitary said, adding that under the mission’s mandate and considering the nature of the issue, it stood necessary to get the military’s viewpoint on the issue.Earlier on Monday, the WGEID experts met Defence of Human Rights Pakistan Chairperson Amina Masood Janjua who had reportedly informed the Working Group experts about the alleged involvement of the military intelligence agencies in his husband’s abduction.A Member National Assembly (MNA) from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said that his party had requested the UN team for a meeting. “We want to meet the UN experts in order to brief them about the missing persons’ issue. We feel that this issue is being hushed up by some elements in the government who try to downplay the significance of the UN team’s arrival here through negative propaganda. As Balochistan burns, the families of hundreds of missing persons need justice. It’s time to heal their wounds and take up this issue for immediate redress,” he said.When approached, senior central leader PML-N Zafar Ali Shah expressed ignorance about the issue saying that he needed to check with the party leadership in this regard. “Maybe some politicians including those from PML-N want to call on the UN experts. I don’t know what’s the party line on this issue. Our stance on the UN’s mission’s arrival would be shared with the media soon,” he said.Reportedly, senior office-bearers of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) have also shown interest in meeting the UN experts.Informed UN officials said the Working Group would visit Balochistan in a couple of days after receiving internal security update from the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) and acquiring security clearance from the interior ministry.Since May this year, two top human rights officials have visited Pakistan and expressed serious concerns over the alleged role of Pakistan’s military intelligence agencies in the abductions and killings of the civilians, particularly in Balochistan.The UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Gabriel Knaul and the UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay, during their respective visits here, had cited several instances involving the abductions, killings and intimidation of journalists, human rights defenders and lawyers alleged to have been carried out by “powerful and largely unaccountable state institutions, especially the military intelligence services.”Earlier this year, the WGEID issued its annual report on enforced disappearances in Pakistan that also highlighted rising cases of kidnappings and killings of civilians by the military-run intelligence agencies.The four-member WGEID delegation comprises two Working Group independent experts, Olivier de Frouville, the WGEID’s Chair-Rapporteur and delegation’s head and Osman El-Hajjé, the senior WGEID member. It also includes Ugo Cedrangolo, the Working Group’s Secretary and Alia El-Khatib a senior diplomat at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva.The dignitaries landed in Islamabad on Sunday on a ten-day mission that started on Monday. Sources in foreign ministry said, Pakistan had first requested the WGEID for conducting its mission on enforced disappearances in Balochistan in 2009. A reminder request was reportedly made last year. Earlier this year, the WGEID had confirmed its visit to Pakistan.Since the year 2000, Pakistan has requested OHCHR eleven times for the visits of its special rapporteurs on wide-ranging human rights issues. So far, apart from the Working Group’s ongoing visit, the special rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences and the special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers have visited Pakistan on fact-finding missions.