June 06, 2007	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 20, 1428

KABUL, June 5: Pakistan on Tuesday rejected the idea of third party mediation to resolve its differences with Afghanistan.

“We do not need an external umpire to tell us what to do,” Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He said both the countries were sovereign and had the ability to resolve their problems themselves.

An official told Dawn that Mr Karzai had floated the idea during his meeting with Mr Aziz. He had also called for giving representation to women in the joint jirga commission.

Mr Aziz said there was a “we can do it approach” on both sides and observed that the jirga process would open many doors of interaction, which would remove misunderstandings between the two countries.

He said Pakistan and Afghanistan faced common challenges relating to security in the region and had a shared history and destiny. Both the countries were jointly confronting terrorism and extremism, he said.

Mr Aziz rejected the allegation that Pakistan was abetting terrorists to carry out operations inside Afghanistan. The issue had been raised by an Afghan woman journalist who read out her question jotted down on a piece of paper. She had been allowed to ask the question by Mr Karzai, who passed a smile as she finished her question.

Mr Aziz said peace, progress and prosperity in Afghanistan were in the interest of Pakistan and efforts had been made over the years to help and support the Afghans. He said Pakistan had pledged over 300 million dollars to assist Afghanistan reconstruction.

He said Pakistan had taken a number of steps to check terrorism and extremism. He said Pakistan had done what it could to check cross-border movement and stressed that it was a joint responsibility of both sides.

The Afghan president termed the jirga process fruitful and said agenda had been finalised for the first jirga meeting scheduled to take place in Kabul in August.

He said Pakistan had played host to a large number of Afghan refugees for over two decades. “This gesture of friendship will remain eternal in our hearts,” he remarked. He also lauded Pakistan’s assistance in reconstruction of Afghanistan.

To a question, Mr Karzai said he was willing to talk to those Taliban who were willing to renounce violence and work with the government for peace and development. He, however, said there was no room for terrorist elements in the country.

Later, speaking at the concluding session of a conference on “Enabling Environment” organised by the Aga Khan Development Network, Prime Minister Aziz called for a comprehensive strategy involving military, political and economic options in Afghanistan to bring peace and security to the region.