ISLAMABAD, 26 September 2006 — Pakistan yesterday denied that the deal it had struck with militants in the troubled North Waziristan was brokered by Taleban leader Mullah Omar. Referring to a report published in the Daily Telegraph of London, Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said the government reached an agreement with the notables of Waziristan to bring peace to the area. She added that the peace had nothing to do with the Taleban or Mullah Omar.
Tasnim added that the government reached the deal with tribal leaders to oust foreigners from the region who were causing trouble there. She said local leaders had assured the government that they would adhere to the agreement.
She said Pakistan has no information on Osama Bin Laden’s whereabouts or whether he is dead or alive.
“We have no information about his coordinates. We have no information whether he is dead or alive,” Tasnim said. Her comments came amid recent speculation about Bin Laden’s status following a French newspaper report over the weekend.
Bin Laden is widely believed to be hiding in the rugged region along the Pakistan and Afghan border.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that Bin Laden “probably” was in Pakistan. Pakistani officials usually say Bin Laden is more likely to be in Afghanistan.
Tasnim said that leaders of the Taleban are present in Afghanistan and denied that Pakistan aided the militia.
“We believe that the Taleban leadership is inside Afghanistan, Taleban resurgence is in Afghanistan,” she said. Afghan officials have repeatedly said that Taleban leaders are also hiding in Pakistan from where they stage attacks against Afghanistan’s US-backed government. Pakistan has denied the allegations, and sparring between the two countries over the location of the Taleban led to a straining in bilateral relations earlier this year.
“Much of the insurgency is located deep inside Afghanistan, far from the Pakistan border,” Tasnim said.
