11 July 2004	Sunday	22 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, July 10: Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat has said that no foreign observer has been stopped from visiting Wana, the headquarters of the South Waziristan Agency.

"It is the interior ministry which gives permission for the visits of international bodies to any part of the country, but so far no such organization has contacted the ministry for visit to Wana," the minister said while replying to a query during a press conference held after his return from a four-day visit to China.

He said the government openly invited foreign observes to visit Wana and any other area of the country. "We had already taken some of the foreign observers to Wana," he added.

The government, he said, had informed the international community that foreign militants in Wana were also wanted in their own countries of origin and they had no sympathy with the people of Pakistan and the country.

The minister said that all the coalition partners of the government as well as the opposition was informed from time to time about the Wana situation because the government was very clear that no one could be allowed to use the country's soil for terrorism or against any other country.

Responding to a question, he said the government would not allow any body to politicise the Wana issue. "Those religious organizations which were against the Wana operation, are now endorsing the government's decision regarding registration of foreign nationals hiding in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas," he said.