The PAF has denied Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s claim that the Kamra Airbase attackers were from Waziristan, not by pointing to another place of origin, but by saying that the investigation itself was at a preliminary stage, and the Interior Ministry could not possibly be privy to any investigation results yet.
This response by the PAF was made on Saturday to Mr Malik’s claim on Friday that 10 suspects in Thursday’s attack had been arrested, of whom four had received training in North Waziristan.
The PAF’s prompt denial, and its spokesman’s careful explanation of the process by which PAF reports are shared with other ministries, seemed to imply that the Interior Ministry’s claim was based not so much on fact as on desire. It is unseemly and uninspiring to see the PAF and the Interior Ministry seemingly at cross purposes on a national stage. Some measure of discipline or coordination should exist by which any conclusions which are drawn in such sensitive matters have everyone on board and should a statement mistakenly contain incorrect information, it should be clarfified from the source it came from, to avoid any sort of embarrassment. It is not encouraging to see the Home Minister being corrected by a PAF spokesman. A discreet note to his desk and the opportunity to convey the relevant information of the process of investigation to the public by Mr Rehman Malik himself, would have been more appropriate.