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Karzai gave Perv intel on Mullah Omar's location
Afghanistan has solid evidence about militant training camps in Pakistan and the presence there of fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohamed Omar, a senior Afghan security official said yesterday.President Hamid Karzai visited neighbouring Pakistan this month and urged it to take action against the Taliban, Al Qaeda and other militants who he said launched attacks from sanctuaries there. During the visit, his delegation handed over confessions of 13 Pakistani terrorists arrested in Afghanistan and details of Taliban leaders in Pakistan, including phone numbers, locations and descriptions, the Afghan security official said. It is currently crystal clear ... that terrorists are using Pakistan soil for planning attacks, for masterminding attacks on our soil, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. It is not helping the long-term relations between the two countries if our people continue to be hurt by terrorists who have safe haven in the Pakistani soil. A spokeswoman for Pakistans Foreign Ministry told a news briefing that Pakistani intelligence were investigating a list of under 40 suspected Taliban members Kabul suspects are running the insurgency from Pakistani soil. Separately (from the list), some information was provided about Mullah Omars whereabouts, spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said. Some of that information has already been checked and its not correct. She said Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden did not figure on the list handed over by the Afghan government and rejected speculation that he was hiding in Pakistan. There is no evidence that Osama bin Laden is here, was here or where he is. If we knew where he was he would have been caught, Aslam said. A body of opinion in intelligence circles, however, suggests bin Laden is probably living on the Pakistan side of the border with Afghanistan, either in the Pashtun tribal areas or in the northern mountains of North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Pressure on President Pervez Musharraf to act against the Taliban leadership comes just ahead of US President George W Bushs planned visit to Pakistan later this week. US commanders in Afghanistan have in the past voiced frustration with Pakistans failure to act more strongly to stem Taliban infiltration, although Pakistans security forces have been praised for running Al Qaeda members to ground. Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-02-28 |
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