January 19, 2007	Friday	Zilhaj 28, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 18: Pakistan has rubbished as mere propaganda the reported claim by Afghan intelligence officials that a Taliban spokesman they apprehended early this week had said Taliban leader Mulla Omar was hiding in Quetta under the protection of the ISI.

“This is an outlandish assertion,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam emphatically said discarding the claim. Talking to Dawn on Thursday, she said through coercive measures any statement could have easily been extracted from the supposed Taliban spokesman.

On the Nato secretary-general’s statement that Islamabad ought to do more to apprehend Al Qaeda operatives in Quetta and take stronger action to stop cross-border infiltration of insurgents into Afghanistan, Ms Aslam asserted: “There are no secure Al Qaeda hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan does not provide safe havens to Al Qaeda or any other terrorists.” She said in fact Pakistan was the country that had been instrumental in dismantling the Al Qaeda network, adding: “This has been acknowledged and appreciated by the international community including the US leadership.”

Responding to a question, the spokesperson said it defied common sense that the large-scale insurgency inside Afghanistan was due to some cross-border infiltration from the Pakistan side. Noting that there were remnants of Al Qaeda in Pakistan as elsewhere, she said Pakistan was taking action against them. Referring to various measures Pakistan had taken on its side including deployment of 80,000 troops, establishing of 938 posts, introduction of documentation and stricter monitoring of refugee camps, Ms Aslam said: “We are also considering selectively mining and fencing the border.” In this context she underlined that it was very important that Afghan refugees were repatriated and settled inside Afghanistan at the earliest. Pointing to President Musharraf’s statement that problems of Afghanistan were inside Afghanistan and they must be resolved there, she declared: “This extremism and terrorism is the fallout of the Afghan problem.” While being critical of the lack of effort by the Afghan government to address the problem, she said: “Regrettably, Afghanistan has not yet moved towards national reconciliation and harmony which is urgently required.”

Meanwhile, a senior government official irked by the chorus of the Nato complaints said Nato-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan was in no position to say anything as it was reluctant to deploy troops in the troubled areas. “Nato itself has failed miserably in tackling the problem inside Afghanistan. They sit in their cloistered garrisons and sermonise on who should do what,” said the disgruntled official.