Government to call peace conference in Quetta

QUETTA: Interior Minster Rehman Malik said the government was going to call in a peace conference of local and foreign religious scholars in the provincial capital Quetta to control violence caused by sectarianism.

"Religious scholars and other stakeholders from different walks of life from across the country and abroad will be invited to attend Peace Conference in Quetta to end sectarian hated and violence," Malik said.

He was talking to media at Sarawan House Quetta after meeting with Senator and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Haji Lashkari Raisani here on Wednesday.

The Interior Minister said that some extremist elements were involved in activities to damage peace of Balochistan and added the government would utilize its all available resources to resolve law and order issue in the province. "We will not allow anti-peace elements to implement their nefarious designs," he said.

Referring to the missing persons issue he said that the total number of missing persons hailing from Balochistan was 54 and not 6,000."I have discussed missing persons issue with Lashkari Raisani and I will inform President Asif Ali Zardari about the reservations of Raisani in this regard," he said adding that both federal and provincial governments had been making efforts to resolve missing persons issue as early as possible. (APP)