BELGIUM: Pakistan rebuffs Afghan accusation that it is using terrorism as a tool of foreign policy.

Pakistan dismissed as ridiculous Afghan charges that it used terrorism as a foreign policy tool and said Afghanistan should take back millions of refugees from camps that have become havens for militants. Pakistan's Prime Minister strongly dismissed as ridiculous Afghanistan's accusation last week that Pakistan was using terrorism as a tool of foreign policy. Speaking after a meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, Shaukat Aziz said in Brussels on Monday (January 29) the Afghan pronouncement was not worthy a response. Rangeen Dadfar Spanta told Reuters last Friday (January 26) that his country needed more money to fight terrorism, improve government and bring better lives for the people during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, He had said that Pakistan was not doing enough to contain the Taliban and that Pakistan was "part of the problem". This despite Pakistan being officially an ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism. He also accused "some circles" in Pakistan of being behind this policy, but declined to identify them. NATO is trying to improve ties with Islamabad. The North Atlantic Organisation has 32,000 peacekeepers in Afghanistan and at the sharp end of the fight against the Taliban. Aziz said the best way forward was for both countries to work together to fight against any infiltration of militants across the border. He pointed out that there had for a long time been a very large number of Afghans living in and around Quetta, in Pakistan's Baluchistan region, either in the city or in camps, and that Pakistan wanted them to return to their own country eventually. The longer the camps stay, he said, the more Afghan's will perceive Pakistan as a haven for them. There are around 3 million Afghan refugees still living in Pakistan. Spanta had said the Taliban could be beaten in 2 or 3 years if Islamabad cooperated fully with Afghanistan but Aziz responded by saying Afghanistan needed to repatriate the millions of Afghan refugees living on Pakistani soil which are jeopardizing Pakistan's own security. "This statement is ridiculous and deserves no serious comment. This is the statement that we are using terrorism as a tool of foreign policy. I think this statement is not, does not reserve any response from us at the moment. As regards the leadership of the Taliban, let me say that Pakistan does not entertain any such people in our territory and if they, there are though, 600,000 Afghans living in and around Quetta, and this is precisely the point I made earlier: In camps, if these camps exist then there will be reason for people to come and find a safe haven there. We want these camps to go, we certainly will not and do not encourage anybody to come to Pakistan and plan activities which are prejudicial to Afghanistan security. It is in our interest to have a peaceful Afghanistan and in this connection, both countries have to work together and use all means at our disposal to find solutions to very difficult problems," Aziz said. Aziz was on his way to meet the 26 countries of NATO who have 32,000 troops in Afghanistan trying to bring stability, Aziz said Islamabad wanted to work with the alliance to realise this aim. He said Pakistan did not want to be used as a sanctuary or a training ground, an accusation that has more than once been levelled at Pakistan. He also said the government was doing its fair share to stop infiltration not least to satisfy its own national security needs. "I think the issue of infiltration and movement of people across the border the cause and the solution lies in Afghanistan. Pakistan is doing a lot because we do not want elements to come into Pakistan who will be prejudicial to our own security or who will try to recruit other Afghans who live in Pakistan," Aziz said. On Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is expected to raise with Aziz concerns that the Taliban have been directing operations from the Pakistani city of Quetta, despite Pakistan's role as a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism. Aziz repeated Pakistani denials of a statement by a captured Taliban spokesman who said Taliban leader Mullah Omar was living Quetta, protected by Pakistani military intelligence. "Pakistan does not entertain any such people in our territory," he said. He added that Pakistan was thinking of introducing extra security measures on its borders. "We need to have more control on the borders so we are thinking of selective fencing, and putting more border stations with biometric identification processes so that we know who's coming and who's going," Aziz said. NATO sees the huge refugee camps in Pakistan as breeding grounds for extremists who attack NATO troops in Afghanistan. Kabul and Islamabad have been in talks about closing them down but the UN refugee agency warned last year that the economic situation for returnees was so dire, Afghanistan was not in a position to take more back. NATO is also expected to raise with Aziz concerns about increased infiltration from the North Waziristan border region since Pakistan reached a deal with tribal leaders in September.

ITN Source | January 30, 2007

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