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| Osama, Zawahiri not in tribal areas: PM |
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Monday, May 28, 2007
Says no Taliban spring offensive due to Pak measures
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday said that the senior al-Qaeda leadership, including Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri, were not hiding in Pakistan’s tribal belt along its border with Afghanistan.
“We have no tangible evidence to corroborate,” the prime minister said in an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN’s Late Edition when asked about a recent report by the US intelligence claiming that senior al-Qaeda leadership, including Osma bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri, were hiding along the Pak-Afghan border.
Shaukat Aziz said, “We cannot respond to general statements, if there is tangible evidence please tell us. We believe that we do not have these people in our territory.”
He said, “They (the senior al-Qaeda leadership) much rather be in a territory that is totally free for everybody. In Pakistan’s case with the fencing, with the troops and other paramilitary forces, they have no incentive to be here.”
The prime minister said Pakistan has over three million Afghan refugees in its camps that were serving as “safe havens for elements crossing back and forth.” He said it was the reason that Pakistan had to fence sections of the 1,700-mile-long porous border with Afghanistan and it has also increased number of troops to prevent such movement. “We have caught more terrorists than anybody else,” he said and added the government and people of Pakistan are committed to opposing terrorism in all its forms, despite paying a huge price.
“The solution to the Afghan situation lies in Afghanistan that battle has to be won in Afghanistan,” he added.
The prime minister said Pakistan was working with the United States and the rest of the world to reduce terrorism. He said the battle in Afghanistan should focus on winning the hearts and minds of its people. “This is an indigenous movement, supported by many elements, but the battle has to be won in Afghanistan,” he stressed.
He said the Afghan people need better facilities, employment and measures need to be taken to end the drug trade while the nexus between drug money and terrorism also needs to be addressed. Shaukat Aziz said fighting terrorism was also in Pakistan’s national interest, which has deployed over 80,000 troops and established a string of border posts to check movement.
“We engage and confront every day and there are casualties on both sides and that is why the Spring Offensive did not occur because Pakistan took measures.”
He said both the Pakistani and the Afghan forces in Afghanistan need to work together. “We have to make sure (and) understand that a blame game will not help,” he added.
He said the cooperation with the US, Nato and the allied troops in Afghanistan and the Pakistani forces was very intense and we have been able to contain the situation. The prime minister said there was no evidence of spring offensive due to increased patrolling and policing by the Pakistan side and more activity on the Afghan side. He said Pakistan can influence the activity only if there is a cross-border movement. He pointed out reduction in activity across the border as the country has deployed more troops and put up fences in selective areas to prevent movement of unnecessary people who can cause security concerns on either side.
About the domestic scene, the prime minister said the matter regarding Justice Iftikhar Chuadhry was sub judice and whatever the government did was in line with the Constitution and the law of the country. He said the matter was before the Supreme Judicial Council and before the Supreme Court and they would give their judgement, whenever they complete their deliberations.
He said the government believes in an independent judiciary and has always promoted it as such. He said that with its economy gaining strength, Pakistan was as stable as ever. However, there was a reaction from the legal community as the people, the media and the parliament were free to express their views as it was part of an emerging democracy.
The prime minister said the government encouraged presentation of healthy point of view and stated that country’s stock market had touched the highest level in the past two weeks. He pointed out that the foreign and domestic investments were currently at their highest level. He said the government allows people to disagree with it and termed this “a healthy sign of a tolerant society”.
About the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s return to the country, he said several legal cases are pending against her. She could not participate in the elections because of these cases. “Other leaders who are presently residing abroad should consult their legal advisers about their plans to return to Pakistan,” he said. However, their parties are actively participating in the election.
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‘Al-Qaeda, Taliban leaders not in Pakistan’
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Mulla Omar in Karachi, claims WT
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Will PM intervene or will robber barons kill CCP?
By Mehtab Haider
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Eight militants die in US drone attack
By our correspondent
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Tribal sources sai more |
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19 militants killed in SWA, Khyber, Bajaur clashes
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WANA/BARA/KHAR: Nineteen militants were killed in clashes with security forces in South Waziristan, Khyber and Bajaur tribal regions on Friday.
Tribal and officials sources said five militants were kille more |
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Pakistan has nothing to fear from India: Singh
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Qureshi wants result-oriented dialogue with India
MULTAN: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmud Qureshi said on Friday Pakistan wanted meaningful and result-oriented bilateral negotiations with India.
Addressing a press conference at the airport here, h more |
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Only 15 pc believe Pakistan is going right
By Gibran Peshimam
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Mustafa Jatoi passes away
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He leaves behind six sons and three d more |
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Slaughter of animals, NRO beneficiaries begins on Eid
By Muhammad Ahmad Noorani
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will soon announce its strategy to deal with the cases which are going to reopen on Nov 28, a NAB spokesman told The News on Friday.
“The NAB chairman more |
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WFP, Rescue 15 attacks’ mastermind arrested
By Shakeel Anjum
ISLAMABAD: The Capital Police on Friday arrested the mastermind behind the attacks on the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Rescue 15 offices in Islamabad.
The terrorist, identified as Jamshed Ahmad more |
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Mushahid asks Karzai not to allow use of Afghan land against Pakistan
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Secretary General Pakistan Muslim League-Q Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Friday asked President Hamid Karzai not to allow the use of Afghan land against Pakistan under Indian designs.
“Pakistan wa more |
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No Indo-Pak FMs meeting: Nirupama
NEW DELHI: India on Friday said no meeting had been scheduled between foreign ministers of Pakistan and India in Port of Spain later this month on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting ( more |
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US to tighten control of Afghan contracts: Gates
HALIFAX: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday that the United States must tighten control of Afghan development contracts as a first step towards stemming rampant corruption.
“The reality is more |
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China has stake in Kashmir: Mirwaiz
News Desk
HELD SRINAGAR: As he plans to visit China, Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday kicked up a controversy by saying that Beijing has a “direct link” with the Kashmir issue, drawing strong obje more |
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Clinton favours Indo-Pak dialogue on Kashmir
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Competition Commission forces PIA to fly fair
By our correspondent
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Attack on policemen in Peshawar
By Javed Aziz Khan
PESHAWAR: The death toll in the bomb attack on police party in Yakatoot rose to three after a sub-inspector and another cop succumbed to injuries at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) on Friday as the city mourned more |
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‘Musharraf funnelling money to improve image’
ISLAMABAD: Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf has reportedly funnelled a large amount of money to his former aides in the country in order to improve his image, as he is planning a return to the c more |
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Sen Lugar’s wife arrested, charged with drinking, hit-and-run
News Desk
WASHINGTON: The wife of Republican Senator Richard G Lugar was arrested in the suburb of McLean on Wednesday night after crashing into a parked car, and she was charged with drunk driving and hit-and-run, the F more |
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briefs...
Bombers kill 23 in Afghanistan
HERAT: Bomb attacks on Friday killed 23 people in Afghanistan, a deadly start to President Hamid Karzai’s second term that underscored spiralling insecurity nine years into more |
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ISSN 1563-9479 
