ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Sunday condemned the recent killings in Pakistan’s financial hub of Karachi and called for negotiations between political parties in a bid to reverse the tide of violence.
More than 48 people have been killed in the port city of around 18 million since Thursday — most of them affiliated with the feuding ruling political allies.
“I want to add my voice to that of many others who have said that they want to see an end to the political violence immediately,” Miliband told reporters in Karachi, where he called on President Asif Ali Zardari.
Farhatullah Babar, a presidential spokesman, said matters relating to the forthcoming London conference on Afghanistan, bilateral and regional issues, the ongoing fight against militancy and the second Pak-EU Summit figured in the meeting at Bilawal House.
Zardari said Britain and Pakistan needed to work closely to further strengthen their partnership in various areas, particularly in trade and investment and education.
Zardari said any initiative on Afghanistan should ensure territorial integrity of the country, national reconciliation and peace and stability and that its soil was not used against any of its neighbors.
Lawmakers from the Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the dominant political party in Karachi, asked their leadership to quit the ruling coalition led by Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) over the “irresponsible attitude” toward the killings.
The targeted killings by unidentified gunmen began after the headless body of a worker from MQM was discovered on Thursday. “At least 48 workers belonging to different political parties have lost lives in the targeted killings in the city since Thursday,” a senior security official said.
On Friday, Interior Minister Rehman Malik ordered joint patrols by police and paramilitary rangers to curb the violence. He said that none of the political parties were involved in the killings.
“It is the handiwork of those who want to undermine the PPP-MQM coalition government in Sindh and also wish to destabilize Pakistan,” he said, without elaborating.
Miliband had arrived in Pakistan on Saturday to hold talks over counter-terrorism efforts, especially the fight against the Taleban insurgency near the Afghan border.
His visit comes ahead of an international conference on Afghanistan scheduled to be held in London on Jan. 28.
“It is important to remember, perhaps especially here, that the issues we discuss will determine the fate of many millions of people and the United Kingdom wants to be a positive partner of Pakistan in the years ahead,” Miliband said. He earlier stressed that Pakistan was a vital partner in finding solutions to the Taleban insurgency in Afghanistan.
“Security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan depend in some part on security, and prosperity and stability in Pakistan,” Miliband said after meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad on Saturday.
— With input from agencies>
