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| October 5, 2001 | Friday | Rajab 17, 1422 |
Pakistan Warned against backing US
ISLAMABAD, Oct 4: Gulbadin Hekmatyar, a former Afghan guerrilla, warned Islamabad on Thursday it would pay a heavy price if it helped in a United States attack on Afghanistan.
“If Pakistan is found participating in a campaign orchestrated by our enemies to destabilise Afghanistan and cause death and destruction to break the nerve of this brave nation, then it would have to pay a very heavy price,” he said in an open letter to Pakistanis distributed by a spokesman.
“It would be impossible for Afghans to trust Pakistan in the future,” said Mr Hekmatyar, who lives in Iran.
“To save Pakistan from civil unrest (and) internal division, it is imperative that a policy be adopted which can serve the interests of Pakistan, safeguard its security and national integrity,” he said.
However, the leader of another Mujahideen group, Pir Sayed Ahmad Gailani, who leads Mahaz-i-Milli Islami, urged Osama bin Laden, wanted by the US for terrorist attacks, to save Afghanistan by surrendering. “If he is a good Muslim, he should hand himself over,” he said.
Mr Gailani, a spiritual leader, has contacts with the Taliban and the opposition Northern Alliance. He also met ex-Afghan King Zahir Shah in Rome last week to discuss changing the government.
But Mr Hekmatyar’s spokesman in Islamabad, Ghairat Baheer, said his Hizb-i-Islami party opposed the former king’s return from exile, and said he was unacceptable to former Mujahideen leaders and the Taliban.
“It is not only the matter of elimination of Osama bin Laden but it’s the matter of replacement of a regime and installation of another regime which is supported by the United States and its western allies,” Mr Baheer said.—Reuters
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