MARDAN, Nov 1: Sikander Khan Sherpao, the son of former chief minister and leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (Sherpao), has said that establishment of a broad-based government in Afghanistan alone can ensure peace and stability in the region.

Talking to local newsmen here the other day, he said Afghanistan, which was devastated by war during the last two decades, was once again being attacked by western forces.

He deplored the execution of Abdul Haq by the Taliban, saying that his death would jeopardize ongoing efforts for peace in Afghanistan.

Mr Sherpao said the claim of President Pervez Musharraf that a vast majority of people in Pakistan supported his Afghan policy was correct.

However, he added, they were not sure about his fate as Taliban did not hear the family’s appeals after Abdul Haq was arrested.

“We don’t have any information about Commander Doran,” said Din Mohammed. Commander Doran had also been reported as having been executed by the Taliban with Haq and his nephew.

Din Mohammed told newsmen that his other brother, Mohammed Qasim, who was also accompanying Abdul Haq, managed to escape Taliban’s arrest and “he (Qasim) is in safe place along with the other three persons who also escaped from the scene of ambush.”

Sharing information he had received from different sources in Afghanistan, he said that from among the three persons with whom Haq had held talks before being attacked by the Taliban troops, one neither knew Pushto nor Persian.

“ The third person was a foreigner presumably an Arab fighter,” Din Mohammed said, adding “we are eight brothers... we have sacrificed one for the noble cause and the remaining seven would not give up the peace efforts after Haq’s murder”.

Din Mohammed rejected the notion that Abdul Haq was betrayed by some quarters inside Afghanistan.

According to him, the Taliban had an effective intelligence network within Afghanistan and they might have received information about Haq’s presence in Afghanistan from their sources.