'Govt providing all facilitation possible, JUI-F protesters should not cross red lines'.

Holding a list of 7,000 names of people who she claimed "connect Pakistan to the world", Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Communication Firdous Ashiq Awan on Thursday reminded the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) protesters that Islamabad, besides being the seat of the government, was also home to a large community of expatriates and residents whose security was the responsibility of the state.

"After the 2008 Marriott Hotel bombing, the United Nations had declared Islamabad to be a 'non-family station'. From 2008, after a continuous struggle, the incumbent government was finally able to reverse that decision thanks to the Prime Minister's international image building efforts," she noted, sitting next to Interior Minister retired brigadier Ijaz Shah.

"We are very familiar with political muscle flexing, protest - we ourselves are political players. We have no worries about answering political challenges. But when there is unrest in the capital the Pakistani diaspora - which is fighting for Pakistan - is hindered in doing its job," she said.

"I am therefore hopeful that Mullah Fazlur Rehman's political adventure - his peaceful protest, to which his full right is acknowledged by the government and given him space - will proceed [as agreed] and the commitments they [the JUI-F] have made will be upheld and they will not endanger the stability of the country.

"Their political grievances - which have no weight, which are baseless, emotional and are detached from reality - [should not make them forget that] they have a relationship with Pakistan which they should not try to weaken. [They should not] do anything that endangers national security or our national standing in the world," she warned.

Details of preparations issued

Interior Minister Ijaz Shah then took the mic to detail the preparations done by the government to facilitate the protesters.

He began by reminding reporters that this was not the first time there had been a major march on Islamabad.

"I had a list made if anyone wants a copy I can give it to them," he offered.

"These marches on Islamabad, Rawalpindi started from Iskandar Mirza's time. You may remember that after the 1965 war [with India], a student movement had taken root which eventually marched on Islamabad. Then another group, in 1977, after the second election of [Zulfikar Ali] Bhutto sahab [marched on Islamabad]; then in 1997, when Qazi Hussain Ahmed sahab came [to Islamabad] in which, as you know, there was quite a...

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