ISLAMABAD, July 29: The National Assembly on Thursday condemned the gruesome murder of two Pakistani workers by their captors in Iraq and asked the government not to take any step regarding sending of troops without taking the parliament into confidence.

The house, which unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the cold-blooded murder, also decided to debate the issue against the backdrop of the country's foreign policy for two hours on Friday after which the house would be prorogued.

The resolution, read out by People's Party Parliamentarians' Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said: "This house expresses its deep sorrow and grief over the kidnapping of two Pakistanis, their slaying and strongly condemns it.

The house is concerned over the incidents of such nature taking place in Iraq and expresses its sympathy and solidarity with the bereaved families. It urges the government to take parliament into confidence before taking any step on Iraq.

The house demands of the government to adopt such a strategy in consultation with parliament so that feelings of the nation could be translated." The opposition which later held the government responsible for the killing at a press conferences, confined itself to the condemnation of the incident to achieve unanimity on a draft resolution which was later moved and adopted by the house.

The unanimity on the draft resolution and fixing of time for Friday's debate was achieved during an adjournment forced by the opposition by pointing out lack of quorum during which the government side held a meeting with Leader of the Opposition Maulana Fazlur Rahman and other opposition leaders in the speaker's chamber.

Earlier, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Noraiz Shakoor moved a motion for suspension of rules of business and procedure to take up the resolution.

In his policy statement, Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said: "The captors did not pay any heed to the appeals by the president, the prime minister, the foreign minister, foreign office and this august house and killed two innocent Pakistani workers who had no political designs against anyone."

He said: "The foreign office had issued a travel advisory a month back in which Pakistanis were asked not to go to Iraq in the prevailing security conditions." He said appeals had been made by an Iraqi ulema council for the recovery of the bodies of the deceased Pakistani workers for their burial according to Islamic rites.

Mr Kasuri said Pakistan had asked its embassy in Iraq and would use other diplomatic channels for getting compensation from Al-Tamimi company, the employers of the two slain Pakistanis.

Speaking on the occasion, Maulana Fazlur Rahman said the killing of two Pakistani workers was a condemnable act. Shah Mehmood Qureshi of the People's Party Parliamentarians, Rashid Akbar Khan of the PML, Sahibzada Fazal Karim of the PML-N, Haider Abbas Rizvi of the MQM, Rauf Mengal of the BNP, Dr Sher Afgan of the People's Party Patriots, MNA from Fata Maulana Merajuddin Khan, Ms Bushra Rahman of the PML, and a minority member Prof. Mushtaq in their speeches condemned the murder and expressed sympathies with the bereaved families.

Maulana Merajuddin Khan asked the government to respect the sentiments of Muslim ummah while drafting policies about Iraq and refrain from joining hands with those forces which were involved in spilling blood of Muslims all over the world.

Rauf Mengal attributed the incident to the failure of Pakistan's foreign policy. Pir Aftab Shah Jilani, Raja Parvaiz Ashraf and Khurshid Shah of People's Party Parliamentarians tried to move an adjournment motion to protest what they termed deliberate closure of watercourses in the opposition members constituencies in Sindh in a bid to subdue the opposition's election campaign against Shaukat Aziz in Tharparkar.

However, members from both the ARD and the MMA staged a walkout when Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain ruled the motion out of order on the grounds that the matter pertained to the provincial government.

The speaker also observed that the federal government should take a constitutional recourse to seek remedy of the complainants. Petroleum Minister Noraiz Shakoor assured the house that watercourses were not being closed on the orders of the government and the situation would be monitored.

He said the government would ensure a level-playing field in the by-elections and would ensure that no official machinery was used for the official candidate's benefit. Through a call-attention notice, Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Pir Noorul Haq Qadri raised the issue of closure of a road in Karachi which led to a venue of religious congregations.

Communications Minister Babar Khan Ghauri and Religious Affairs Minister Ijazul Haq assured the members that the federal government would take up the issue with the city government and the provincial government for its resolution.

The house passed a bill seeking amendment to the code of criminal procedure (amendment) bill, 1898, sought to moved by Petroleum Minister Noraiz Shakoor along with an amendment moved by PML's Zahid Hamid.

MMA's Liaquat Baloch along with some other MNAs raised the issue of printing of the Holy Quran on substandard paper in violation of the Quran Act of 1973.

The religious affairs minister assured the house that all steps would be taken to meet the requirement of the law and a meeting would soon be held with provincial governments and the publishing companies representatives.

Rauf Mengal and Maulana Ghafoor Haidery protested through points of order the non-admission of adjournment motions they had moved to debate the ongoing military operation in Turbat and Kohlu.