| This is one of those rare public admissions of what everybody knows but nobody mentions... |
 The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) pledged on Friday that it would continue supporting a Taliban government in Afghanistan, as it did in the past.
| Support includes cannon fodder, cash, support facilities, and safe havens. |
“We have been supporting the Taliban government and will continue doing so. Those (treasury members) who are opposing them now will also support them in future but they will not be in power by that time,” said Dr Attaur Rehman, an MMA member in his speech in the National Assembly. He was responding to a challenge by Sheikh Waqas, a treasury member, who in his speech asked opposition parties to publicly announce if they can support Taliban.
| "Support them? Hell, we are them!" |
MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed, in his speech, criticised government policies and said that the rights of the smaller provinces were being usurped. He said the concentration of power in one hand was the root cause of all problems the country was facing. “We can join hands with any political force to bring a genuine democracy to the country. We can work with the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy for this purpose,” Qazi said. He dispelled the impression that the MMA was facing a rift, claiming that the religious parties alliance was intact. He claimed that he had no differences with Maulana Fazalur Rehman, the chief of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl.  | "No, no! No differences at all!" |
Qazi said that despite the government’s policy to act as a frontline state for the United States’ war on terrorism, the US administration did not trust Pakistan. “It is unfortunate that US officials are now giving computer training to Pakistani parliamentarians,” he added.
| I have no idea what that has to do with anything. Qazi might not, either. |
He said that corruption and commission-culture was posing a serious threat to the country’s economy. “Despite a verdict by the Supreme Court, the interest system has not been abolished,” he said. He added that the implementation of an interest-free financial system was imperative for real economic progress. He said that accelerated efforts were required to overcome poverty and improve socio-economic condition of the common man. |