Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday described as "false
and baseless" the Afghan government`s allegation that it had
evidence of former president Burhanuddin Rabbani`s
assassination being planned on the outskirts of Quetta where
key Taliban leaders are based.
Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan made the remarks
while talking to reporters on the sidelines of an official
function in Islamabad.
"The Afghan allegations that Pakistan is behind the
assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani
are totally unfounded and baseless," she said.
She said all allegations levelled by certain countries
against Pakistan in the past had proved to be wrong and the
fresh allegations too would "meet the same fate".
The Foreign Office and other departments are examining the
issue and will soon give a formal reply that would be shared
with the media, she said.
Pakistan is using all its energies to fight terrorism to
ensure durable peace in the region, she said.
Earlier in the day, Afghanistan`s intelligence service
said it had given Pakistan "strong evidence" that Rabbani`s
assassination was planned in the southern outskirts of Quetta
where key Taliban leaders are based.
Lutifullah Mashal, a spokesman for the Afghan intelligence
service, told a news conference in Kabul: "The place where
Professor Rabbani`s killing was planned is a town called
Satellite near Quetta, Pakistan... The key person involved in
the assassination of Rabbani has been arrested and he has
provided lots of strong evidence about where and how it was
planned".
"We have given all that evidence to the Pakistan Embassy.
The documents handed over by Afghan intelligence to the
Pakistan Embassy include the address, photographs and a layout
of a house in Satellite where the plot was allegedly hatched,"
Mashal said.
The Pakistanis had been provided names of individuals who
discussed Rabbani`s assassination at the house in Satellite,
he said.
Information Minister Awan said a recent meeting of
Pakistan`s political parties that was convened by Prime
Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had adopted a resolution that said
Pakistan does not want confrontation with any country.
Pakistan wants friendly relations with its neighbours and
desires to live with peace based on mutual respect and
equality, she said.
PTI
