- ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on
Monday
said, in very categorical terms, it will not support US marines or other
ground troops which landed at an Afghan airbase near Kandahar on Nov
26.
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- "Pakistan has made it clear from the beginning it
will only share intelligence, provide air bases, air space and some
corridors
for the coalition airplanes and some logistic support. We do not go beyond
this," General Rashid Qureshi, the military spokesman, told a regular
Foreign Office briefing. He, however, said Pakistan will not withdraw this
support to the US forces.
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- He was replying to a query on the landing of hundreds
of US marines near Kandahar. Foreign media reports suggests the presence
of marines will give a "psychological" boost to the Pushtun
anti-Taliban
tribals, besides pursuing their main task -- capturing bin Laden and
members
of his al-Qaeda network, believed to be in Kandahar.
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- However, Qureshi said he could not comment on why the
US marines were mobilized near Kandahar, as these were a part of the
tactical
plans of the coalition forces. Previously, he had admitted Pakistan was
not privy to this information.
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- To a question on Pakistan's response to the
border-crossing
by any al-Qaeda men, the General said: "We are secure in our
knowledge;
that there will be no movement inside Pakistan. If some (al-Qaeda members)
do come here, they will be proceeded against by law. Adequate measures
have been taken at the borders; and security has been beefed up. There
is intense patrolling and regular army troops are supplementing the forces
there, and all routes are being monitored."
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- Qureshi confirmed that some areas on the Pakistan side
of the border were hit by US bombs, but there had been no damage of any
consequence. To a question that the US bombings of Pakistan territories
had become quite frequent, Qureshi replied: "They are not dropping
bombs on Pakistan by design. These are stray bombs which have landed ten
yards off Afghanistan".
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- However, he said that Pakistan would be taking up this
issue with its coalition partners. "We are in constant touch with
our coalition partners. We expect this will be taken into account
also,"
he said. To another query, he said there was no chance of these bombings
hitting Pakistan's strategic installations.
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- Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Khan, to a question, said
that Pakistan had asked the ICRC and the UN about the recent killings in
Mazar-e-Sharif in which hundreds of Pakistanis are reported dead.
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- "We have maintained that these prisoners-of-war
should be treated under the international law. This has been emphasised
by the UN Security Council resolution also. But we have no details of these
incidents. We have asked the ICRC and the UN to find out if there are any
Pakistanis and we want details of these," Khan said. To a query about
official or non-official meetings between the Northern Alliance and
Islamabad,
Khan said not a single meeting had been held as yet.
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- "But we are open to such meetings if there is a
chance. We have an open mind about all Afghan groups. I have met all
leaders
in the Northern Alliance about four years ago. We were four years ago in
constant touch with both sides. There are still contacts with some. Some
Northern Alliance leaders like Haji Qadeer and others going to Bonn came
to Pakistan but we did not have any meetings with them," Khan
said.
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- When asked what Pakistan expected of the Afghan meeting
in Bonn, Khan replied: "Peace inside Afghanistan is a good indication
for Pakistan. We want a stable transitional arrangement, as quickly as
possible, which would ensure that no more displaced people would come here.
With reconstruction and rehabilitation, the three million refugees here
would start returning."
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- Khan said that Lakhdar Brahimi consulted Pakistan on
the Bonn meeting when he had wide-ranging talks in Islamabad.
"Invitations
by the UN to the Afghans have been sent directly," he told a
questioner.
Khan said it was Pakistan's earnest hope and that of the international
community that this meeting would be meaningful and the Afghans will give
peace a chance.
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- "They should forget past differences which kept
Afghanistan in turmoil. Under the UN resolution, an interim transitional
broad-based and multi-ethnic government is needed for a permanent
solution,"
he said. On the representation of the Pashtuns at Bonn, Khan said there
had been no census for a very long time but some estimates say that there
are about 55 to 60% Pashtuns and 15-20 per cent Tajiks and other
groups.
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- "All ethnic groups should be satisfied with the
meeting as well as with the new future government," he said. When
asked if Pakistan was satisfied with the representatives of the Pashtuns
at Bonn, Khan said that Islamabad did not have the list of nominees, which
would be released by the UN today. "It is only then that we will be
able to say whether it is adequate or not. There is no need to be
pessimistic
about the meeting as the international community is supporting it",
he said. While commenting on the Afghan reconstruction meeting in Islamabad
on Tuesday, Khan said this was being arranged by the World Bank.
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