Islamabad: Faced with increased aggressive street protests in the country against war
in Iraq, Pakistan has decided to abstain from voting on the second US-sponsored
resolution in UN Security Council (UNSC) authorising military action.
Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali's government has decided to abstain from
voting on the resolution in UNSC, a leader of the ruling pro-military Pakistan Muslim
League (Q), Azeem Choudhary, said on March 11.
The decision of Pakistan, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, came
after Russia and France announced that they would veto the second resolution in its
present format. China and Germany too opposed the resolution.
The US had hoped to present the resolution in the Council today (March 11) but it has
been delayed to later this week as Washington had not yet won nine votes needed to
pass the resolution.
Jamali himself skirted the issue of voting last night after the Cabinet meeting but
said Pakistan has decided "not" to support any move that seeks to attack Iraq and
create problems for its people.
"I want to take Parliament into confidence and tell the Parliamentarians that
Pakistan will not become a party to any decision which leads to bloodshed in Iraq,"
Jamali said in the National Assembly on March 10 night amid Opposition parties'
protest over Constitutional amendments promulgated by President Pervez
Musharraf.
The National Assembly was paralysed for the second week and Opposition parties said
they would continue their stir until government reached a compromise.
PTI
