ISLAMABAD –State Minister for Interior Affairs Balighur Rehman on Tuesday told the Senate that former Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz had denied any invitation to the Islamic State (IS) militants by Jamia Hafsa students on social media.
Senator Farhatullah Babar had asked whether the students of the Jamia Hafsa and cleric Abdul Aziz had some time ago publicly invited Islamic State chief Abu Bakar Al Baghdadi to avenge the 2007 raid on the Lal Masjid. To the question, the minister said that Abdul Aziz had, in a statement in the trial court, denied extending any such invitation.
It was a very sensitive issue that was why extreme caution was being exercised. Legal aspects were being examined, he said. He said that the court had granted Aziz bail on the basis of that statement. He said that the government had taken across the board action against all the terrorists and the National Action Plan (NAP) was being implemented in letter and spirit.
He said that the law and order situation in Pakistan had improved substantially as number of terrorist attacks had dropped due to effective actions of Pakistan Army, police and other law enforcement agencies and NAP’s implementation.
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