Prez election between Sep 15 and Oct 15: Aziz

Islamabad, Aug 4: Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said the presidential election would be held between September 15 and October 15 and President General Pervez Musharraf would contest it without doffing uniform.

Daily Times today quoted Aziz as saying that the general elections would be held after present assemblies complete their tenure, and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and its allies would contest these elections from one platform.

He said the PML and its allies would not form an alliance with any other party and hoped that they would win elections on the basis of their performance.

Commenting on US threats to attack inside Pakistan, the Prime Minister said such statements were unacceptable to Islamabad and incursions would not be tolerated.

''Pakistanis are a proud nation and their integrity and sovereignty is sacrosanct,'' he said, explaining that such statements were part of the election campaign in the US and came without diligence.

Mr Aziz said Pakistan had repeatedly stated that it would never allow its territory to be used by any individual or group to harm its or any other country's security.

He said the government was cooperating with many countries in fighting extremism and militancy.

''We want to cooperate with others in terms of intelligence-sharing and fighting extremism, but we will not allow anyone to violate our sovereignty,'' he maintained.

About the release of Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, he said the government always accepted the judiciary's verdicts.

UNI