ISLAMABAD, March 28: Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar said on Thursday that there had been no need for the US forces to cross from Afghanistan into the Pakistan territory to chase those who had escaped from Tora Bora or the Gardez area.

He said this while clarifying a statement attributed to him by The Washington Times during an interview to the newspaper and appearing in few newspapers in Pakistan on Thursday.

The text of the clarification follows as under:

“Pakistan and US forces have cooperated in preventing Al-Qaeda cadres from escaping into Pakistan. There has been no need for US forces to cross from the Afghanistan side into Pakistan territory to chase those who escaped from Tora Bora or Gardez area.

“In response to your question whether US forces would be allowed to cross into Pakistan, I said such a theoretical contingency had not arisen.

“If necessity arose, an appropriate strategy could be discussed in the spirit of cooperation between the two countries. There was at present no problem. Your construction that ‘Pakistan is prepared to change the existing policy’ went too far. I hope you will correct the wrong impression.

“Likewise, about Ahmed Omar, my point was that his presence in Pakistan was indispensable for prosecution of the Daniel Pearl murder case. Obviously, I could not anticipate the court verdict.

“Finally, I am sorry for this first instance of misunderstanding in the course of several telephone conversations between us over the past months.”—APP