November 28, 2001	Wednesday	Ramazan 12, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 27: Pakistan will wait for the outcome of the Bonn meeting being held to work out the future Afghan government before taking a decision on the recognition of authority in Kabul.

Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Ahmad Khan told the daily news briefing on Tuesday that no government delegation was holding talks with any Afghan parties on the recognition issue nor had any official team gone to Dubai to meet Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani who is visiting the Gulf state to discuss the issue. However, he said, the government had maintained “contacts” with all Afghan groups.

Answering questions, the spokesman said that though there was some difference of opinion between Pakistan and Iran on how to arrive at an agreed position on the future Afghanistan government, Islamabad and Tehran were one on the issue that the future Afghan government should be broad-based and multi-ethnic. Their ultimate objective was common, he added.

The spokesman conceded it was for Afghans to choose their government without any outside interference but said it needed to be remembered from the past experience that there could not be a durable government in Kabul if that was based at the expense of ethnic claims and interests.

While emphasizing that all along Iran and Pakistan had maintained friendly and brotherly relations in spite of some differences in their perceptions on Afghanistan, the spokesman said that the matter was expected to receive considerable attention at the talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, who is due to arrive here on Thursday.

Referring to President Pervez Musharraf’s talk show on Monday, ISPR director-general Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi told the briefing that the government policy to weed out “extremist” forces from society would be publicly known in the next few weeks.

About a statement made by Benazir Bhutto in Delhi the other day, Maj-Gen Qureshi said the PPP leader would have to face the law and the court on her return.

The ISPR chief said that the International Committee of Red Cross had been requested to provide information about the Pakistanis who had reportedly crossed over to Afghanistan to join what they believed was Jihad.

Such persons would be dealt with under a procedure jointly agreed by the anti-terrorism coalition and the United Nations, it was stated. However, normally such persons were put on trial in the country where the crime was committed, said the spokesman, referring to the attack on the United States landmarks in September.

Maj-Gen Qureshi confirmed that the former senior official of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, Bashiruddin, was in detention with his colleague after he had been picked up for questioning.