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Date, agenda for CE visit to Afghanistan being worked out

RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Secretary Inamul Haq has said that agenda and date for a visit to Afghanistan by Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf was still being worked out.

Speaking to newsmen he denied that Gen Musharraf would take up with the Taliban leaders the complaints of Chinese government about interference in the Sinkiang province.

He told a foreign correspondent that he had seen reports that China had asked Pakistan to convey to the Taliban their displeasure but added that it was a speculative report as the Chinese Government had not conveyed any complaints to Islamabad nor did ask "us to do anything."

He reiterated that Pakistan, like the rest of world is seeking an end to the conflict and the establishment of a broad-based representative government in Afghanistan. In this endeavour, he said, "we have supported and will continue to support the efforts of the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC)".

He told another questioner that the results of the recent parliamentary elections in Iran were the internal matter of that country and Pakistan respected the decision of the people.

He denied that the Chechen leader, Zelim Khan Yanderbayev has met with Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf or the Foreign Minister Abdus Sattar during his visit.

The Foreign Secretary said that Yanderbayev had arrived here on a two-week visa for a meeting in Karachi which has now expired and Pakistan has asked him to leave now. This action, he said, bore no reflection on Pakistan's sympathy for the suffering Chechens for whom relief assistance has already been provided.

Inamul Haq said that Yanderbayev has been asked to leave the country in accordance with the routine observance of laws and had nothing to do with his criticism of Pakistan government's policies during his stay here. Such criticism, he pointed out, amounted to interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan and was inadmissible.

The international community including the US, the European Union, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation for Europe (OSCE) and the Organisation of Islamic Countries that includes Pakistan had repeatedly raised their voices against the Russian bombing of Chechnya. The Human Rights Organisations have also condemned the atrocities against the Chechens, he reiterated.