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| India-Pakistan |
| Talks with militants to continue: Mukhtar |
| 2008-05-28 |
| Pakistan will continue in its efforts for a negotiated settlement in the Tribal Areas despite any ‘concerns’ expressed by the United States and the United Kingdom, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar said on Tuesday. “High-ranking officials and lawmakers of the US and UK have expressed concerns (over talks with the militants) during their recent visits, but we have to address our security concerns first,” he told Daily Times during an exclusive interview at the Ministry of Defence. He said the threats of extremism and terrorism was decreasing and terrorists had conducted no major suicide attack since the new government came into power after February 18. Successful: “This means that our policy of negotiation and talks with militants has been successful,” Mukhtar said, adding that Pakistan was involving local people to ensure that the agreements would be properly implemented. He said that current talks were being held with local Taliban and not ‘outsiders’ like Al Qaeda. To questioning, he rejected the possible threat of coalition forces in Afghanistan taking unilateral action inside Pakistan. He said Pakistan would “not let militants cross into Afghanistan”. Mukhtar also rejected news reports that Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was hiding in the mountains of Pakistan bordering China. |
| Posted by:Fred |