September 3, 2002	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Saani24,1423

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 2: Pakistan has communicated to the United States the findings of a team of its investigators that had visited 58 Pakistanis detained in Guantanamo Bay last month and learnt that a majority of them were not connected with Al Qaeda.

A foreign ministry spokesman said this at a press briefing on Monday, adding that Pakistan had now sought release of those detainees. He said investigators had also found little proof of any connection of the remaining Pakistanis held by the US authorities for investigation.

The matter, Spokesman Aziz A. Khan said, would be taken up with the US authorises.

He said President Pervez Musharraf’s statement in the General Assembly next week would highlight all important issues relating to the Kashmir situation, Pakistan-India relations and a heavily militarized border situation besides other regional and intentional issues.

In reply to a question about the prospects of a meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee on the sidelines of the General Assembly, the spokesman said that Pakistan had not received any such request from New Delhi. Pakistan, he said, would look into it if and when an invitation for such a meeting was received.

As far as Pakistan was concerned, the spokesman pointed out, Islamabad did not shy away from talks. He reiterated that Islamabad had been offering New Delhi to resume negotiations at any place, any time and any level for the last many months.

India, the spokesman observed with a sense of regret, had been lacking in a positive response to Pakistan’s initiative for one reason or the other.

Mr Khan confirmed that Pakistan’s high commission in New Delhi was in touch with the APHC leaders who had already rejected the so-called elections being held in occupied Kashmir later this month and their position was unchanged despite some “planted and mischievous” reports about a shift in the APHC’s stance.

The spokesman said that the president’s statement to the UN forum was always an important event since it dealt with the Pakistan-India ties, regional situation and related subjects.

The spokesman hoped that another batch of Pakistanis held in Afghanistan would be arriving home in two or three day, possibly on Wednesday. He also hoped that the repatriation process starting this week would eventually lead to the release of all Pakistanis and their return to Pakistan.

The spokesman said that speculations about the presence of Osama bin Laden were guess work and added that there was no substance in reports about the US forces operating to capture Al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives in Pakistan.

He pointed out that Pakistan forces’ excellent job to catch Al Qaeda and Taliban operatives in Pakistan had been universally recognized. Hence, he added, there was no need for outside assistance. The spokesman sought to remove any doubt about the elections and said it was evident that all political parties were engaged in the election process. Polls would be held on Oct 10, 2002, he reaffirmed.

In reply to yet another question, he said there had been no change in the military standoff on the Pakistan-India border which was running in its ninth months.