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Spokesperson Briefings

Date: 25/09/2006

RECORD OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE FOREIGN OFFICE SPOKESPERSON ON 25 SEPTEMBER 2006

No statement was made in the beginning and the Press Conference opened with Question/Answer Session.

QUESTION/ANSWER SESSION

In response to various questions about President Musharraf's just published book, the spokesperson said:

The book has not been launched as yet. Obviously you are referring to reports in media, but it is not appropriate for me to talk about the contents of the book till it is launched officially. That will take place today. For now, I would not respond to any question related to the book.

When her comments were sought on the Commonwealth Secretary-General's recent statement about the President's uniform issue, the spokesperson said:

Well, the Commonwealth has its own view. You would have seen the President's statements. He has said that he will take a decision at an appropriate time in the national interest.

When her attention was drawn to the reported statement by Afghan President Hamid Karzai alleging that the recent military insurgency in Afghanistan was exported from Pakistan , the spokesperson said:

President Musharraf visited Afghanistan on 6-7 September. He had detailed discussions with the Afghan President. He also met Afghan political elite including members of Cabinet, members of Parliament and Jihadi leaders. He also held detailed discussions with them to clear the misperceptions that exist. Pakistan does not have a policy of abetting the Taliban. We are committed not to allowing our territory for military activities in Afghanistan . The recent agreement in North Waziristan with tribal elders and ulemas is aimed at ensuring there is no cross-border movement for military activities. The tribal elders are the guarantors of this. We have a tripartite commission and we also have bilateral channels with Afghanistan . Somehow, these issues are never raised there. We believe that the Taliban leadership is inside Afghanistan , the Taliban resurgence is inside Afghanistan and much of the insurgency is taking place deep inside Afghanistan far away from the Pakistan border.

Asked to comment on the news report that Osama bin Laden was dead, the spokesperson said:

We have no information about Osama bin Laden's location and whether he is dead or alive.

Asked to give an update on Pakistan-India Foreign Secretary-level talks, the spokesperson said:

Dates for the meeting will be finalized by mutual consultations. When we have a date, we will announce it.

Asked whether Pakistan would seek only China 's assistance or would also look to other countries for acquisition fo civil nuclear technology, the spokesperson said:

We have repeatedly underlined that we have energy requirements. We have ongoing cooperation with People's Republic of China , and of course we would like to have similar cooperation with other countries.

When her comments were sought on the reported statement by the Indian Prime Minister that Pakistan had been given certain targets which Pakistan has to achieve in order to sustain the peace process, the spokesperson said:

It is not for India to give any targets and there are no such targets. The recent Joint Statement talked about a number of things. In fact, these are targets that both countries need to work on jointly. This includes peaceful negotiated settlement of all issues between Pakistan and India particularly the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in a sincere and purposeful manner. The Siachen and Sir Creek issues have also been specifically mentioned. The two countries have also agreed to an institutional mechanism to fight terrorism. The purpose of this mechanism is to help each other prevent acts of terrorism in the two countries. So there are no targets for any country. There are priorities and targets for both countries on which they need to work together.

Asked about the level of trust between Pakistan and U.S with particular reference to President's recent media statement, the spokesperson said:

The President was basically responding to a question from the media. At the press stake-out, President Bush underlined the close cooperation and good relations between the two countries. The importance the US attaches to its relations with Pakistan which is based on mutual trust and confidence.

Asked to give the number of Pakistani casualties in Iraq , the spokesperson said:

We are in touch with our Embassy in Amman and they are in contact with the Iraqi authorities. We still do not have any confirmation about three people whether these were Pakistanis - whether they had gone there as pilgrims and if they have been killed and by whom. We are trying to ascertain the facts from the Iraqi authorities.

Asked whether the joint mechanism to fight terrorism stipulated extraditing persons who were wanted in either India or Pakistan , and whether the latter would oblige the former on this count by handing it over Syed Salahuddin and Maulana Masood Azhar, the spokesperson said:

This institutional mechanism does not talk about handing over of people by either side. The two countries have been exchanging lists of wanted people in the meetings of our Interior Secretary and his Indian counterpart.

We have also stated that people who have been associated with the Kashmiri freedom struggle have a different status. The list also contains names who are not in Pakistan . Perhaps the Indian government wanted us to check out whether any of them was here or not. We did that we informed India as well.

Asked about the schedule of the Indian Prime Minister's visit to Pakistan , the spokesperson said:

We have no dates in this regard.

In response to a question about the forthcoming meeting between President Musharraf and President Hamid Karzai and President Bush and whether the President would advise President Karzai to pursue an agreement in Afghanistan similar to the one we have in North Waziristan, the spokesperson said:

We want to see peace and stability in Afghanistan . We would also like to see the pace of reconstruction pick up, and the Afghan people developing their country enjoying prosperity and peace. How that is to be done, what specific steps should be taken - that is for the Afghans to decide. It is not for us.

In response to a question about the Hezbollah leader's reported statement that peacekeepers in Lebanon including Pakistani troops would be closely monitored, the spokesperson said:

We are not part of the peacekeeping force in Lebanon and this is not what I understand has been said by the Hezbollah leader.

Asked when the extradition treaty between Pakistan and Britain would be inked, the spokesperson said: