October 19, 2001	Friday	Shaba'an 1, 1422

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ISLAMABAD Oct 18: The appearance of Taliban Foreign Minister Wakeel Ahmad Mutawakil live on the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television on Thursday must have sent shock waves for those manoeuvring to bring him to the anti-Taliban camp.

In a brief interview telecast through videophone, Mutawakil refuted reports of his defection and reposed “full confidence” in the leadership of Mulla Omar.

He demanded immediate halt to what he called the genocide of Afghan people through bombing, strafing and hitting civilian population in Afghanistan.

Referring to the reported hurdles in the way of humanitarian assistance workers inside Afghanistan, he said: “We have no objection to any of the NGOs that want to work in Afghanistan provided their operations are supervised and monitored by the Islamic Emirate.”

There were speculations, suggesting Mutawakil’s arrival in Pakistan for “secret” negotiations on a “face saving” exercise for both the Taliban rulers and the US-led coalition.

The war wary people of Afghanistan and Pakistan are pinning hopes on these “behind-the-scene” manoeuvres to achieve a pause in the ongoing air attacks on the war ravaged country, and Mutawakil was said to be leading the so-called moderates’ group of the Taliban to share power in the new setup.

Press reports on Thursday suggested that Mutawakil had arrived in Islamabad under tight security and secrecy. The reports also claimed that he had held a meeting with former king Zahir Shah’s visiting emissary Hedayat Amin Arsala.

However, the acting ambassador of Afghanistan, Sohail Shaheen, had emphatically denied the reports and described them as part of propaganda by the “enemies”.

Reuters adds: On Wednesday in Rome, a representative of Zahir Shah said Muttawakil had left Afghanistan, but said he did not know where the minister was, and could not confirm rumours he had defected.

The Al-Jazeera satellite channel showed footage of Muttawakil speaking to one of its correspondents who is normally based in Kandahar, but did not say where or when was the interview filmed.