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Pakistan rejects Karzai`s charge on Taliban chief
Quetta, Pakistan, Dec 01: Pakistan has dismissed a charge by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that one of the world`s most wanted men, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, was recently spotted in a major Pakistani city.
Quetta, Pakistan, Dec 01: Pakistan has dismissed a charge by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that one of the world's most wanted men, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, was recently spotted in a major Pakistani city.
In an interview with the 'London Times' last week, Karzai said that the Taliban leader was recently seen praying in a mosque in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta.
But Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed dismissed this as ''absolutely baseless''. Ahmed told news agencies, ''Mr Karzai should be careful about levelling baseless charges against Pakistan.''
Pakistan hoped Afghan leaders would show restraint about making statements ''that could create misunderstandings in the relations between the two nations,'' Ahmed said.
Afghan officials have repeatedly complained Taliban leaders have organised attacks on US-led coalition forces, Afghan troops and aid workers from the Pakistani territory.
In 'The Times' interview, Karzai also charged militants operating from Pakistan had paid 600 dollars to the killers of a 29-year-old French UN worker murdered earlier this month.
Islamabad, the main supporter of the fundamentalist Taliban before joining the US-led ''war on terror'' after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, denies the charge.
Karzai identified the mosque where Omar was seen praying as one near Quetta's Salim Plaza and urged his Pakistani counterpart, General Pervez Musharraf, to stop hardline Islamic groups offering sanctuary to those carrying out attacks in afghanistan.
It was impossible to say which mosque Karzai had referred to, but the prayer leaders of the three mosques nearest to Salim Plaza denied Mullah Omar had visited their mosques.
''IT is a news to me,'' said Qari Abdul Rahman, prayer leader for the Omar mosque, named after Islam's second caliph and a companion of Islam Prophet Mohammad.
Maulana Abdul Majeed, prayer leader of the Ghaznavia mosque, said Omar would never have visited his mosque because his worshippers did not follow the Taliban's school of thought.
The Taliban's deputy operations commander in southern Afghanistan, Mullah Sabir Momin, also rejected Karzai's claim and said that Omar spent most of his time in southern Afghanistan.
''Mullah Omar hasn't left Afghanistan since the fall of Taliban,'' he told newspersons from an undisclosed location. ''Karzai is making such statements just to cover up his ineptness and weakness.''
Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Omar Samad said that if Pakistan was so sure Omar had not been in Quetta, it should work with Afghanistan to find out where he was. Otherwise, the report should be investigated.
Thousands of US-led coalition troops and Afghan allies have been hunting Mullah Omar and his ally Osama bin Laden, blamed for the September 11 attacks, for the past two years.
Karzai's remarks came ahead of a meeting in the Afghan Capital this week between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the united states to discuss cooperation in the ''war on terror''.
Afghan officials said that Karzai and the head of the US Central Command met in Kabul on Saturday to discuss ways to combat infiltration from Pakistan.
Bureau Report
But Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed dismissed this as ''absolutely baseless''. Ahmed told news agencies, ''Mr Karzai should be careful about levelling baseless charges against Pakistan.''
Pakistan hoped Afghan leaders would show restraint about making statements ''that could create misunderstandings in the relations between the two nations,'' Ahmed said.
Afghan officials have repeatedly complained Taliban leaders have organised attacks on US-led coalition forces, Afghan troops and aid workers from the Pakistani territory.
In 'The Times' interview, Karzai also charged militants operating from Pakistan had paid 600 dollars to the killers of a 29-year-old French UN worker murdered earlier this month.
Islamabad, the main supporter of the fundamentalist Taliban before joining the US-led ''war on terror'' after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, denies the charge.
Karzai identified the mosque where Omar was seen praying as one near Quetta's Salim Plaza and urged his Pakistani counterpart, General Pervez Musharraf, to stop hardline Islamic groups offering sanctuary to those carrying out attacks in afghanistan.
It was impossible to say which mosque Karzai had referred to, but the prayer leaders of the three mosques nearest to Salim Plaza denied Mullah Omar had visited their mosques.
''IT is a news to me,'' said Qari Abdul Rahman, prayer leader for the Omar mosque, named after Islam's second caliph and a companion of Islam Prophet Mohammad.
Maulana Abdul Majeed, prayer leader of the Ghaznavia mosque, said Omar would never have visited his mosque because his worshippers did not follow the Taliban's school of thought.
The Taliban's deputy operations commander in southern Afghanistan, Mullah Sabir Momin, also rejected Karzai's claim and said that Omar spent most of his time in southern Afghanistan.
''Mullah Omar hasn't left Afghanistan since the fall of Taliban,'' he told newspersons from an undisclosed location. ''Karzai is making such statements just to cover up his ineptness and weakness.''
Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Omar Samad said that if Pakistan was so sure Omar had not been in Quetta, it should work with Afghanistan to find out where he was. Otherwise, the report should be investigated.
Thousands of US-led coalition troops and Afghan allies have been hunting Mullah Omar and his ally Osama bin Laden, blamed for the September 11 attacks, for the past two years.
Karzai's remarks came ahead of a meeting in the Afghan Capital this week between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the united states to discuss cooperation in the ''war on terror''.
Afghan officials said that Karzai and the head of the US Central Command met in Kabul on Saturday to discuss ways to combat infiltration from Pakistan.
Bureau Report