BELGRADE: Afghan Prime Minister Sardar Daud’s attempts to seek backing for his ‘Pakhtoonistan’ movement from the conference of non-aligned nations in Belgrade are meeting with no success whatsoever.

Though Sardar Daud did not dare to raise the ‘Pakhtoonistan bogey’ openly at the conference, he made an oblique reference to it when he alleged in his speech that “colonialism has established artificial frontiers which must be removed”.

Since then the Afghan prime minister has been feverishly lobbying for support for his ‘Pakhtoonistan’ campaign, proposing that this question should be inserted in the final communiqué along with such questions as Angola, Algeria, Palestine, West Irian and Bizerta.

But with the exception of India no delegation seems willing to toe Sardar Daud’s anti-Pakistan line in Belgrade. It is most unlikely, therefore, that ‘Pakhtoonistan’ would find any mention either openly or in guise in the conference declaration.

It is learnt that among those who are opposing Sardar Daud’s move are Presidents Bourguiba and Nasser. — Agencies

Gold smugglers’ gang busted

KARACHI: An eight-man gang of smugglers, which has smuggled gold worth Rs90 lakhs into Pakistan from the Persian Gulf area during the last two years, is now in judicial lockup. The arrest of one Saifullah Beg on Aug 21 at the Karachi Airport led to the smashing of the gang.

The other members of the gang are Waheed Mirza, Abdul Aziz, Abdul Qadir, Afzal Malik, Baro Khan, Nawaz Khan and Mohammad Riaz.

Saifullah had come to the airport with a letter of authority in the name of Syed Ali to receive an air parcel. The parcel, which was declared to be containing crockery, yielded smuggled gold.