Pak. denies presence of U.S. commandos on its soil

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, SEPT. 29. Pakistan today denied the presence of U.S. troops or commandos on its soil, even as it admitted that the latest mission of the ulema (Muslim religious scholars) along with the ISI to Kandahar, to persuade the Taliban chief, Mullah Omar, to hand over Osama bin Laden had been a failure.

The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, Mr. Riaz Mohammad Khan, invoked all his authority and emphasis to contradict reports circulated by some of the international agencies that the Taliban authorities had detained some of the U.S. troops trying to sneak into the Afghanistan from the Pakistani border.

``The question does not arise as there are no U.S. troops or commandos on Pakistani soil. Let me restate the position that till now the U.S. has not discussed any specific plans about what it intends to do (in the light of Taliban's refusal to hand over Osama)'', Mr. Khan said.

Earlier, at a crowded news conference, the Pakistan Interior Minister, Lt. Gen. (retd.) Moinuddin Haider, dismissed the reports circulated by news agencies that the Pakistani authorities had rounded up 15 activists of the organisation associated with Osama, Al-Queda.

``There is no truth whatsoever in the report,'' Lt. Gen. Haider said. So far, no one had approached Pakistan for either investigation or detention in cases related to the September 11 attacks on the American cities. At the same time, he said that if any country were to approach Pakistan with specific leads for investigation, it would gladly cooperate.

In response to questions, both the functionaries of the military Government said to the best of their knowledge, neither the U.S. nor the U.K. special services personnel were engaged in any combing operations to find the hideouts of Osama or his associates.

The Minister, who has visited Afghanistan thrice before the September 11 incidents to discuss various issues of mutual interest between Pakistan and the Taliban regime, said in his meetings with Mullah Omar he had pleaded with him to re-examine some of the policies of his regime.

``I told him in my meetings that you have switched off the television. You do not have embassies in many countries of the world to tell you what the international community is thinking about your regime. I asked him re-examine some of the strong policies of his Government and conveyed the concerns of the international community as well as our own concerns,'' Lt. Gen. Haider said.

In response to a question, the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman said the track record of the Taliban regime was well known to the world. The regime had not so far responded to the request to hand over the 40-odd Pakistani criminals reportedly taking shelter in Afghanistan.

At the same time, Mr. Khan said Pakistan was of the view that engagement with the Taliban was necessary. ``We will welcome all initiatives for a dialogue with the Taliban and our policy of engagement will continue. The Embassy of Taliban in Islamabad is the contact point,'' he said.

Asked about the views of the Pakistani Government on the formation of a broad-based Government in Afghanistan, Mr. Khan said that while Islamabad, like the U.N. and the Islamic world, had always favoured conciliation and a broad-based set-up in Kabul, it was a ``million dollar question'' as to how the objective would be realised.

The Minister was of the view that the window of opportunity provided by the decision of the Taliban to urge Osama to leave Afghanistan voluntarily was not followed up with ``diplomatic activity''. The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, on the other hand, complained that the neglect of Afghanistan, after it ceased to serve as a frontline state at the end of the cold war, had created many problems and they had now become problems of the international community.

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Section  : International
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