July 18, 2008	Friday	Rajab 14, 1429

LONDON, July 17: The Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior, Mr Rahman Malik, has said that armed forces are fully capable of defending the territorial integrity of the county and the government will maintain its writ in tribal areas at all costs.

He was speaking at a hastily-arranged press conference at the Pakistan High Commission on Thursday afternoon.

The adviser is returning to Pakistan after cutting short his tour which was to last till the weekend.

Mr Malik spoke of conspiracies being hatched by enemies of Pakistan to destabilise the country, but said this would never be allowed to happen. He informed the media of the recent action taken by the government to re-assert its writ in areas around Peshawar and Bara and said the situation had been brought under control.

He said law-enforcement agencies had arrested 100 Taliban militants, including 32 deputy commanders, and their radio station had also been destroyed.

He rebutted reports about government inaction in tribal areas and said the country would not accept any dictation from abroad.

Mr Malik referred to his meetings with British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Foreign Secretary David Miliband and said he had informed them about the efforts being made by Pakistan to counter terrorists.

The British officials were informed that because of the measures taken by Pakistan, the number of suicide bombings had declined substantially in Punjab and the NWFP.

The focus of his discussion with the British leaders was exchange of youth visits, forced marriage, understanding of the British culture and matters relating to immigration and security.

Mr Malik said that during his recent visit to Afghanistan and discussion with President Hamid Karzai, he had emphasised the need for better policing of the border crossing.

“Although President Karzai agreed to my proposals, despite three reminders, no progress has been made,” Mr Malik said.

He informed the media about the steps taken by Pakistan at the border checkpoints at Chaman and Torkham, including the introduction of biometric cards but said the facilitation desk on the Afghan side had been destroyed by Afghan soldiers.

The adviser said that Pakistan was still playing host to some three million Afghan refugees and urged Afghanistan to initiate development projects so that these refugees could return to their homes.

Referring to the situation in Balochistan, he said that Baloch dissidents, with the help of some foreign countries, were involved in destabilising the province and the country as a whole.

Referring to the situation on the Pak-Afghan border, he said Nato, Afghanistan and Pakistan were responsible for its control. He said Pakistan was discharging its duties faithfully while Afghanistan needed to do the same on its side of the border.

On the complaints of media persons, the adviser announced transfer, with immediate effect, of five officials working in the visa section for over 10 years.