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Army fumes at BBC interview of abducted soldiers
 The chief military spokesman has reacted angrily to a BBC report in which three army officers held hostage by the Taliban in South Waziristan were interviewed. This is an attempt to carry out propaganda, Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad told Daily Times on Thursday after militants led by Baitullah Mehsud allowed the BBC access to the three officers for the first time since they and some 250 other soldiers were abducted on August 30. BBC reporter Haroon Rashid wrote that the officers did not want to talk but were pressurised by the Taliban to do so. Gen Arshad warned Pakistani journalists against becoming spokesmen of militants. He said the Taliban wanted to use the interview as a propaganda tool to press the government to meet the militants demands for the soldiers release. Commanding officer Lt-Col Zafar, Major Ateeq Azam and Lieutenant Farakh Mansoor were the three officers the BBC interviewed. Maj Ateeq said he hoped the military command would do something for their release. Col Zafar said he was leading a convoy taking rations to soldiers in Ladah from Shakai when tribesmen stopped the convoy. We were not going for a military operation, he added. A spokesman for Baitullah said the government is showing little urgency in securing the release of the captured soldiers. Posted by: Fred 2007-10-12 |
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