QUETTA, Oct 13: The Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan, Mulla Abdul Salam Zaeef, said on Saturday that the US warplanes were not able to hit strategic targets in his country but were responsible for killing of hundreds of innocent citizens.
The Afghan ambassador was speaking to newsman after arriving here on way to Kandahar where he is summoned by the Taliban authorities for a briefing.
Mulla Zaeef said he had been constantly in touch with his government throughout last week. “But you know all issues cannot be discussed on telephone,” he remarked, while pointing out that he was going to Kandahar to take instructions “from my government on the current situation.”
“Fifteen civilians were killed in American bombing on Kandahar on Thursday night,” he said. Afghans, he said were battle-hardened people who have endured hard conditions for about two decades.
“Don’t worry for us,” he told a journalist who asked about the living conditions in Kabul, Kandahar and Jalalabad, which are targets of the bombings for almost a week now. “We have learnt to live in most difficult conditions and will endure all such difficulties in the future because we have faith in God,” he said in a confident tone.
It could not be ascertained how long will be Mulla Zaeef’s stay in Kandahar. “May be a week,” an official of local Afghan consulate replied to a question.
Our Staff Reporter from Islamabad adds: Afghan Ambassador Mulla Abdul Salam Zaeef, left federal capital for Kandahar on Saturday to meet Taliban supreme leader Mulla Omar.
Sohail Shaheen, deputy ambassador in Islamabad, when asked to confirm the report told Dawn that the ambassador had left for Afghanistan but it was not known whether he would be able to meet Mulla Omar.
He said that the ambassador might go to Kabul and see other functionaries of the regime.
The move is seen by Afghan analysts as significant, being initiated immediately after the statement of US president offering a chance to Taliban to turn over Osama bin Laden.
Earlier on Friday, Mulla Zaeef outrightly rejected any chance of handing over the Saudi dissident unless the Taliban regime was provided with solid evidence of his involvement in recent acts of terrorism.
Earlier reports suggested that the Afghan diplomat had held important meetings with some high ranking officials of foreign office and that he was carrying an important message from President Musharraf to Kandahar.
However, the foreign office spokesman during routine briefing on Saturday denied that the Afghan envoy had any special emissary status in his sudden departure for Kandahar.
He clarified: “Pakistan is not playing intermediary role any more and hence the Afghan ambassador did not carry message from Pakistan to his leaders.” If there was any thing of the sort, better this question be put to them (Afghan diplomat), he quipped.
When asked whether Pakistan had no role left to play in resolving the deadlock between the Taliban regime and Bush administration over Osama bin Laden, the spokesman said: “The message from President Bush is very clear and has been relayed by entire international media which the Afghan government should have heard.”
There was therefore no role left for Pakistan to play, he said, and added that Pakistan had either no role in the ongoing operation nor that operation was launched from Pakistan’s soil.
The spokesman said the US presence in Central Asian States was known to everyone and the ground operation might be launched from there or it might have already been launched.
To a question, the Afghan deputy ambassador said according to reports four people were killed in Saturday’s bombing on Kabul while the death toll in Kandahar is not known. He said so far over 300 people, mostly civilians, had been killed in the airstrikes.