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Spokesperson Briefings

Date: 04/12/2006

RECORD OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE FOREIGN OFFICE SPOKESPERSON ON 04 DECEMBER 2006

Opening Statement

At the last press briefing, there was a question about the Pakistani prisoners in Sri Lanka . It was said that these prisoners were held in jails without trial and were on hunger strike. As promised, I have checked. This is incorrect that they are being kept in detention without trial or are observing hunger strike. There are 36 Pakistanis prisoners in Sri Lanka . Of these 34 are in prison in connection with drug-related cases. Two of them have already been convicted. The prisoners were not satisfied with the arrangements for interpretation. Now our Mission has arranged Interpreters for them. Their names have been given to the Sri Lankan Judicial Services Commission, which is dealing with these cases.

Question/Answer Session

Asked why Pakistan could not take a leaf out of the British book whose Crown Prince and Prime Minister visited Pakistan to reportedly use their influence in getting a British national released from Pakistani jail, since thousands of Pakistanis were languishing in various jails around the world, the Spokesperson said:

First of all, it is incorrect that Mirza Tahir Hussain was released because any influence used by Prince Charles or Prime Minister Blair. The link you are making is not correct. Prince Charles and Prime Minister Tony Blair's visits to Pakistan had nothing to do with the release of Tahir Hussain. His case was already under review, as is evident from the postponement of his sentence a number of times. The effort was that the family of the victim should be able to reconcile with Tahir Hussain. That was our first preference but that did not happen. Then the President exercised his right to grant pardon.

As regards Pakistani prisoners, we continue to make efforts for their early release. I have been updating you on these efforts regularly.

Asked about an update on Baglihar hydroelectric project, the Spokesperson said:

You would have already seen the news reports. The Secretary Water and Power confirmed that the decision is now expected in February and not in December as we had earlier mentioned.

Asked about the dates of the Indian Prime Minister's visit to Pakistan , the Spokesperson said:

We do not have any dates.

Asked whether Pakistan was satisfied with the outcome of NATO Summit on Afghanistan , the Spokesperson said:

We have, on a number of occasions, articulated what we expect from the International Security Assistance Force, the role which has been taken by NATO now in Afghanistan . It is however for NATO to decide how it wants to achieve these objectives. We have been emphasizing the need for a comprehensive strategy in Afghanistan .

Asked whether Pakistan would send its de-mining mission to Lebanon under the UN umbrella or under the bilateral arrangements, the Spokesperson said:

We had made the offer to send a contingent for de-mining in response to a request from the Prime Minister of Lebanon. In that context it is a bilateral arrangement. However, the UN has already started the de-mining process there and they have divided the area into four zones. Deployments have already taken place in this regard. We got in touch with the UN and informed them of our readiness to provide our contingent. We were informed that in the process of rotation, they would let us know when our troops would be required. It would be in coordination with the UN.

Asked about the dates and agenda of the Foreign Minister Kasuri's visit to Kabul, and if she would subscribe to Afghan media allegations that the real purpose behind convening the joint jirga was to legitimize Taliban, the Spokesperson said:

The visit would take place on 07-09 December. He is not going to Kabul for legitimizing the Taliban. Convening of Jirgas was President Karzai's idea. We are sure he would have thought it through.

Asked about the agenda for the Foreign Minister's visit to Afghanistan , the Spokesperson said:

The visit is part of regular bilateral contacts and consultations. When the Afghan Foreign Minister visited Pakistan , it was agreed that the two Foreign Ministers would remain in regular contact. Of course, the Foreign Minister will discuss bilateral relations with his counterpart. He would also discuss how to bring about peace and calm in the bordering areas of the two countries. In this context, the Foreign Minister will discuss Pakistan 's strategy that we are following in the tribal areas. We hope that a comprehensive strategy can be developed in Afghanistan that has a political dimension - national reconciliation and also an economic component and reconstruction in addition to the military action. The President of Pakistan has talked about a sort of Marshall Plan for Afghanistan particularly in south and southeast Afghanistan . Again this has to be in addition to what is being done in the rest of Afghanistan .

There would be follow-up discussions on the meeting between the two Presidents that took place at the Iftaar dinner hosted by President Bush in September this year. In this regard, they would discuss the proposal for holding jirgas. The focus would be on how to activate this traditional institution to bring down violence and promote peace in the bordering areas.

Asked, with reference to a press statement attributed to her, whether there was a change in Pakistan 's policy with regard to cooperation with the US and NATO in the war on terror, the Spokesperson said:

This change in policy has been brought about with a major contribution from the ‘Online News Agency'. The statement attributed to me was a distortion of a PTV interview. That interview is available; I wonder if anyone of you had watched it. However the actual contents of the interview and what the Online News Agency Press Release said which was picked up by a number of newspapers have no connection. This is complete distortion and this does not represent the views of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Government of Pakistan.

When her attention was drawn to a news story appeared in one of the national dailies that during the Chinese President's visit to Lahore and his interaction with the Chief Minister of the Punjab , the Punjab Government was unable to procure the Chinese flag, the Spokesperson said:

The Chinese President's visit to Lahore was very well organized. The Chinese side was very happy with the visit. I do not believe that the Punjab administration that had put together such a good programme would have forgotten such an important detail.

Asked whether the Foreign Minister would suggest to the Afghan Government to replicate the jirga and agreement that had been concluded in North Waziristan between the Governor NWFP and the tribal elders, the Spokesperson said:

It is not for our Foreign Minister to suggest as to what the Afghans should do and should not do. It obviously has to be their own decision, but he will tell them how we went about it and why we believe that it is a successful strategy. It is of course up to them, but we would like to see peace in Afghanistan . It is our conviction for that we require a comprehensive strategy which should include political reconciliation and massive economic reconstruction apart from the ongoing military action.

In response to a question with reference media reports about agreement with a number of countries with which Pakistan has signed agreements to allow Pakistanis entry without visa, the Spokesperson said:

We have bilateral understandings with a number of countries under which we do not require visa on diplomatic and official passports and vice versa. I do not know what you mean by the free entry. I am not aware any such agreements. The report does not seem to be entirely correct.