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ISLAMABAD, Aug 21: The United States has informed Pakistan that suspected Al Qaeda fixer Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s three children were not in its custody.
“On our demand that the children of Dr Aafia Siddiqui be returned to Pakistan, we have been told by the US authorities that the children are not in US custody,” Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said at his weekly briefing on Thursday.
Pakistan had last week sent a note to the US State Department asking for immediate repatriation of the children.
The government, Mr Sadiq said, would continue to look for the children.
“There have been no indications from the US about the possible whereabouts of the children,” the spokesman said.
The Foreign Office, he said, was seeking consular access for the visiting parliamentarians and other officials from Pakistan.
It has been misreported by the media that Dr Aafia is a Ph.D in biosciences or neurology, the correct position is she is an educationist with a Ph.D from the Brandeis University in Boston. He said that her education in no way could have enabled her to engage in chemical or biological warfare.
CONSULAR ACCESS: The Foreign Office declared that all Indian prisoners in Pakistan had been provided consular access.
Pakistan and India had signed an agreement in May to provide consular access to prisoners in each other’s custody.
“Pakistan has always approached the prisoners issue as a humanitarian matter and, therefore, has always taken initiatives to ensure their early release, provide necessary assistance, and extend consular access,” Mr Sadiq that said adding Pakistan had released 36 Indian prisoners earlier this month on the recommendation of the Pakistan-India Judicial Committee on Prisoners.
The Pakistani members of the judicial committee are currently in India visiting Pakistani prisoners in Amritsar, Jaipur and New Delhi jails.
India has declared 378 Pakistani prisoners in its custody. Of them 323 have been provided consular access by the Indian authorities.
The Foreign Office claimed that there were 670 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails and it had taken up the issue of discrepancies in the figures with the Indian authorities.
KASHMIR POLICY: Asked if Mr Musharraf’s departure would have any impact on Pakistan’s Kashmir policy, Mr Sadiq said: “Pakistan’s Kashmir policy has not changed and Pakistan remains committed to the continuation of peace process since it is important for peace and stability and economic development of 1.5 billion people of the region.”
He reiterated the government’s support for confidence building measures saying Pakistan attached great importance to the Cross-LoC CBMs.
Mr Sadiq said the foreign policy was the prerogative of the government. “Changes and adaptations are made according to the wishes of parliament, which would also decide in this matter,” he said.
