December 18, 2003	Thursday	Shawwal 23, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, Dec 17: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said on Wednesday the government was taking all possible measures for the repatriation of Pakistani nationals languishing in Afghan jails, and exerting pressure on the Kabul regime through diplomatic channels in this regard.

“The continued detention of Pakistani nationals in Afghan jails is a matter of great concern for us and we have raised this issue with US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah,” Mr Kasuri told the Senate during the question-hour.

Due to government efforts, some 470 prisoners have already been released, including 65 prisoners who were repatriated from Shiberghan jail in May 2003.

He said according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), 601 Pakistanis were languishing in Afghan jails, but the Afghan interior minister during his recent visit to Islamabad had informed the Pakistani authorities that there were 643 Pakistani prisoners, out of which 540 were in Shiberghan. Despite our repeated requests to the Afghan authorities, particulars of Pakistani prisoners were still being awaited, he said.

Pakistan was working out necessary arrangements with the Afghan authorities for the transfer of all our prisoners to Pakistan, who would be released after necessary interrogations.

He said the Afghan government was insisting on the screening of these inmates because many of them during interrogation had vowed to continue the activities for which they were arrested.

The Senate was also informed that Rs60.7 million were spent to provide health care facilities to the staffers of the Pakistan Embassy in Washington and Pakistan mission in New York from the year 2000 to 2003.

Mr Kasuri said the proposal to convert the old chancery building into the Jinnah Gallery/Display Centre in Washington was still in a nascent stage. The Pakistan ambassador had constituted a committee of senior officers for the preparation of a comprehensive proposal.

The committee is also holding a meeting of Pakistani community leaders to discuss different aspects related to the establishment of the centre. The mission would send its comprehensive proposal as soon as it was finalized, the minister said.

President Pervez Musharraf who visited Washington in June 2003 also accorded his verbal approval for the establishment of the centre, which would help in projecting the image of our country in diversified fields, he added.

The minister explained that Pakistan’s old chancery building in Washington was situated in a prestigious area of the city where different art galleries, libraries and other touristic attractions were in its vicinity.

In reply to a question, the foreign minister conceded that his ministry was facing an acute shortage of staff in different missions because of the financial cut introduced by the government in the name of restructuring. However, he assured the house that Pakistan embassies were working day and night, and said that consulates at Houston and Chicago would be opened soon in line with the directions of Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali.

He also informed the Senate that no Pakistani was beheaded in Saudi Arabia on the charges of narcotics smuggling from January 2003 to June 30, 2003.