June 27, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 22, 1429

ISLAMABAD, June 26: Islamabad has accused foreign elements of fomenting unrest in Fata and the NWFP.

“There are indications of foreigners in the area and there are also indications that there is support from abroad,” Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told a weekly briefing on Thursday.

He did not elaborate or specify where the support was coming from. However, the spokesman said, expulsion of foreign elements from Fata was the government’s priority.

“Peace talks in Waziristan are being conducted with tribal elders and notables. The tribes themselves are seeking these negotiations,” he said, adding that political engagement was possible only with those who renounce militancy and violence, don’t allow the use of “our territory against any other country” and do not provide “safe haven to foreign terrorists”.

Rejecting the Afghan intelligence agency’s allegation that the ISI had masterminded the assassination attempt in April on President Karzai, the spokesman said the accusation was surprising and was yet another attempt by the Afghan government to ‘reignite the blame game’.

Such an attitude, he added, had not helped matters in the past and would not in the future either.

Mr Sadiq said it was hoped that the Afghan government would adopt a serious attitude and desist from vitiating the atmosphere of bilateral relations with Pakistan.

Reacting to a press conference by the Kandahar governor in which Pakistani suicide bombers were presented in chains, he said parading captives in chains, no matter who they were and for what reasons they were taken into custody, was a mediaeval practice not different from what Taliban did in the past.

“Afghan officials need to understand that war against terrorism and extremism cannot be won through coerced confessions and parading of captives in public.”

Speaking about a report by the US Government’s Accounting Office that raised questions about transparency in disbursement of funds to Pakistan under the Coalition Support Fund, the spokesman said Washington was welcome to conduct an inquiry into the issue.

He said that the joint investigation into the air strike on a military post in the Mohmand Agency earlier this month by the US was under way and a team of Pakistani experts was in Bagram to take part in the inquiry. He expected the probe would be completed in a few days.

The findings of the joint investigation team, he said, would be implemented.

Eleven Pakistani paramilitary troops were killed in the Mohmand attack.

The US termed the strike legitimate, but offered a joint investigation.

PRISONERS ISSUE: The spokesman said India had notified an additional list of 91 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails. India had earlier in March declared 133 Pakistani civil prisoners and 14 Pakistani fishermen in its jails as part of implementation of the recommendations of Pakistan-India judicial committee on prisoners.

“We believe that the list is still incomplete and are waiting for additional names from India.”

The two countries are due to exchange fresh lists of prisoners on July 1.

The Pakistani chapter of the judicial committee would visit Indian jails from July 20 to 27 to meet Pakistani prisoners detained there.

Mr Sadiq said that steps recommended by the committee to streamline the release of prisoners were being implemented.

The committee had recommended immediate release of all prisoners whose national status was confirmed and who had completed their sentences.

FM’S VISIT TO INDIA: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi would leave for New Delhi on a four-day visit on Friday. This would be his first official visit to India.

Mr Sadiq said the FM’s visit would help carry forward the peace process and address outstanding issues.

Pakistan and India are slated to begin the fifth round of composite dialogue next month.

Mr Qureshi will call on Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and will also meet other political leaders.

The foreign minister will meet a delegation of Kashmiri leaders.

He will also deliver a keynote address at a centre for research in rural development in Chandigarh.