Pakistan to release more Afghan Taliban militants

Islamabad: Pakistan has said it had so far released 28 Afghan Talibanis from jails while more will be released in near future in order to give a boost to the ongoing reconciliation process.

Foreign Office spokesperson Moazzam Khan told a weekly press briefing that his country wants peace and security in the neighbouring country and is ready to extending every possible support to an Afghan-led reconciliation process. According to the Daily Times, Khan, however, cautioned, that the US pullout from the war-torn country must be in a ‘responsible way’, which helps ensure peace and security in the region. He said that Pakistan wants that the withdrawal should be in a responsible way. To a question about opening of an office by Taliban in Doha, he said though Pakistan is not involved in that process, it sees the move a step in the right direction that will help achieve objectives of peace and security in Afghanistan, the report said. He said that a conference of Ulema from Afghanistan and Pakistan will take place in Kabul on March 10 and arrangements in this regard were being finalized by the representatives of Ulema from both the countries. He added that Pakistan supports the initiative, but some reservations of Pakistani Ulema regarding the conference must be removed amicably. The spokesman clarified that the foreign office had no connection to JUI-F leader Fazlur Rahman’s visit to Qatar, and he has travelled to Doha on his own. On Kashmir, he said that there was no shift in Islamabad’s stance on the issue. He added that Pakistan wants to resolve all pending issues with India, including Kashmir, through a meaningful dialogue process. The spokesman said Pakistan has conveyed its concern on the execution of Kashmiri leader Afzal Guru to India. According to the report, he said Islamabad had called upon New Delhi to show restraint in dealing with demonstrations being held in Held Kashmir in protest against Guru’s execution. ANI