02 May 2006

Karachi: The government has barred several prominent Baloch nationalist leaders from travelling abroad, accusing them of being involved in anti-state activities and a number of terrorism-related cases, officials said yesterday.

"Yes the names of a number of Baloch politicians have been put on the ECL (Exit Control List)," said a senior official of the Ministry of Interior.

"They have been barred from travelling abroad and the immigration authorities have been informed about it so that none of them slips out of the country," he said.

Akhtar Mengal, chief of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), said his name had been put on the ECL despite Sindh Provincial High Court ordering authorities to remove it from there.

"The authorities told High Court Chief Justice that I am wanted in a number of high-profile cases," Mengal told Gulf News by telephone from Quetta.

"The Judge then asked them the details of those cases and asked why I was not being arrested. But the authorities had no case against me," he said.

Mengal said he now plans to file a contempt of court case because his name had again been included on the list in violation to the judge's order on April 30.

The other prominent Baloch leaders on the ECL includes Mengal's father Attaullah Mengal, his party leaders Rauf Mengal and Senator Sanaullah Baloch, said the former chief minister of Balochistan.

A number of leaders belonging to the Jamhoori Watan Party, including its leader Akbar Bugti and Dera Bugti's Mayor Kazim Bugti are also on the ECL, interior ministry officials said. Sher Ali Mazari, nephew of Akbar Bugti, is also on the list.

Basic rights
Mengal said the government was pushing Baloch leaders against the wall.

"We do not need certificates of loyalty and citizenship from the government. They themselves are denying us the citizenship and our basic rights. For the people of Balochistan, the situation was getting from bad to worse," he said.

The government accuses Baloch nationalists of stoking violence in the troubled province where tribal militants are targeting security forces, government installations and infrastructure.

The nationalist leaders, who demand greater economic rights and autonomy for their province, say that it was a reaction to what they called continued oppression of the Balochs and exploitation of the mineral resources.

Quetta (Reuters) Tribal militants fighting for greater autonomy in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan blew up a railway track and bridge yesterday, officials said.

The militants used heavy explosives to blow up a railway track and bridge in Noushki and Kohlu districts.

Railway officials said six bombs were planted on the track linking the provincial capital Quetta with the Iranian border town of Zahidan, but only two exploded.

"God saved us from great damage as four other bombs did not go off and were defused," Mushtaq Ahmad, a railway official in Noushki, said.

A banned militant group, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), claimed responsibility for the attacks.

By Mujahid Ali

Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.