US exporting terrorism to Pakistan: Marvi

* PML-Q leader says Malik owes apology as 'Blackwater involvement in Pakistan proved'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) parliamentarian Marvi Memon on Sunday accused the US of exporting terrorism to Pakistan.




A statement issued by Memon said the US had contradictory policies in the war against terror. "There is major contradiction in the statements of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the transgression of US citizens in Pakistan. If the US does not wish to act as a patron, then it has no business exporting terrorism to Pakistan in the form of US nationals recently caught in Pakistan planning terror attacks along with Al Qaeda," she said. She demanded the government provide parliament with complete details of the 9,236 visas issued by Pakistan to US nationals during the last four months.




Referring to recent arrests of US nationals, Memon said the arrests proved that some of these nationals were a national security risk and the government would be an accomplice if it did not take action against the suspects. She lamented that parliament was not being allowed to debate the issue, as all adjournment motions on the subject had been disallowed. Memon said barring parliament from doing its job would be a breach of parliamentary privilege.




Blackwater: Memon said Interior Minister Rehman Malik owed the nation an apology, if not his promised resignation, after the Vanity Fair magazine proved that Blackwater had been involved in operations in Pakistan.




The PML-Q leader said the government should summon the US ambassador for an explanation and direct US nationals to abide by the country's law if it had any sense of sovereignty and self-respect. "If the US nationals resist inspection, they need to be dealt with firmly," she added. Memon said since the government was busy securing its power, it had accepted US colonial behaviour and not reacted appropriately.




"It was clear from the behaviour of the US nationals that they imagined themselves as colonialists. The Kerry Lugar law has legalised US colonialism in Pakistan," she said. She also criticised Rehman Malik's statement that the government could not take legal action against foreign nationals caught with regards to aiding terrorism in Pakistan.