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Heat on Pakistan over Taliban chief
 A TOP Taliban official's claim that the movement's leader, Mullah Omar, is living in Pakistan under the protection of the ISI spy agency has threatened a new crisis in relations between Kabul and Islamabad. Mullah Omar heads the most wanted list for US and NATO-led coalition forces battling the Islamic fundamentalist insurgents in Afghanistan. Previous intelligence reports suggesting Mullah Omar was running the Taliban's military campaign from Quetta, capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province, with the full knowledge of the ISI, have not been substantiated. Officials in Kabul have released a video of Taliban spokesman Mohammad Hanif under interrogation following his capture on Monday night. In the video, he declares that Mullah Omar "is under the protection of the ISI in Quetta". The claim was denied by Islamabad yesterday. Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said the claim was "totally baseless". "We have no information on the whereabouts of Mullah Omar. He is not living in Pakistan," he said. In the video, Hanif, 26, says regular suicide bombings in Afghanistan are "carried out by Taliban, financed and equipped by the ISI of Pakistan". According to Afghanistan's intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, Hanif, whose real name is Abul Haq Haqiq, was arrested near Jalalabad, close to the Khyber Pass, and is being held in the city. His capture is a coup for Afghan security forces, and is tipped to significantly improve intelligence on Taliban activities. As one of the Taliban's emerging leaders, Hanif was regarded as principal spokesman, regularly contacting news agencies using a satellite phone from secret locations, which he always insisted were in Afghanistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai is expected to use Hanif's testimony to heighten international pressure on Pakistan. Adding to the controversy surrounding Hanif were reports that the house in which he was arrested contained packets of the deadly bacteria anthrax. Posted by: Fred 2007-01-19 |
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