November 7, 2001	Wednesday	Shaba’an 20, 1422

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LAHORE, Nov 6: Former ISI chief Gen (retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi has rejected the allegation that the Taliban were the creation of Pakistan or that Islamabad could influence their decisions.

In an interview, he said the Taliban were the creation of circumstances after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. He said in 1994, there was utter confusion in Afghanistan, efforts to set up a coalition had failed, Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani had refused to step down as president although he had completed his term of presidency, Ahmed Shah Masood, the defence minister, was in control of Kabul and Gulbadin Hekmatyar, though prime minister, was unable to enter the capital.

He said former commanders, living in various seminaries, had started taking over the Afghan cities one by one. And since they received good response from the local people, they took over the control of some 90 per cent territory of Afghanistan within no time.

Answering a question, Gen Ashraf said it was wrong to assume that Kabul had been reduced to ruins either by the Russians or the Americans. In fact, he said, the infighting between the Afghan forces was responsible for the entire destruction.

He said Pakistan’s first contact with the Taliban was established after the latter had conquered Kandahar. He recalled that a special delegation came to Pakistan under the leadership of Mullah Rabbani. They told the Pakistan authorities that they had not come to seek any kind of assistance from Islamabad, and their only request was that Pakistan should stop extending any kind of assistance to all commanders. Another request they made was that they should be allowed to purchase petrol from Pakistan.

He denied that former interior minister Gen Naseerullah Babar had ties with the Taliban.

Gen Qazi, who is minister for railways these days, claimed that it was the ISI which had arranged Gen Babar’s meeting with the Taliban.

Similarly, he said, JUI Amir Maulana Fazlur Rehman was also introduced to the Taliban by the ISI. The JUI leader, he claimed, was kept awaiting for about a week before his meeting with the Taliban as the delegation was not willing to meet him.