 | Companion piece to the story Fred posted. |
KABUL - Afghanistan hopes neighbouring Pakistan will hunt down more Taleban militants, a government minister said on Thursday, while Pakistan said it would consider handing over the insurgentsâ spokesman arrested this week. Pakistani security forces arrested the top Taleban spokesman, Abdul Latif Hakimi, on Tuesday in Baluchistan province near southern Afghanistan. Afghan Defence Minister Abdur Rahim Wardak praised Pakistan for what he described as its renewed security cooperation. âPakistan has recently increased its efforts and the arrest of this person is also result of that fresh cooperation,â he told Reuters. âWe are hopeful that these arrests continue for terrorism is a common enemy of ours and the arrests will help boost security.â Wardak said he has no list of Taleban figures the Afghan government wanted Pakistan to arrest.
| They could check Thugburg ... |
However, Afghanistan has complained in the past that Hakimi and other Taleban figures, including key commanders and supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, have been able to operate from Pakistan. Pakistanâs Foreign Ministry said Pakistan would consider handing over Hakimi to Afghanistan if the Afghan government made a formal request.
| Will a fax do? I'm sure I could whip something up with MS Word ... |
Afghan President Hamid Karzai told Franceâs LCI television during a visit to France on Wednesday his country would seek the extradition of Hakimi, who Karzai said was responsible for many atrocities in Afghanistan. Pakistani intelligence officials say they have been questioning Hakimi vigorously about his links with senior Taleban leaders, the organisation and structure of the Taleban, and to determine how we was operating in Pakistan. |