Pakistan’s military operations in tribal areas have forced some important Taliban leaders to flee outside of Pakistan and Afghanistan, Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Meh-mood Qureshi said on Monday.
Afghanistan-Pakistan relations had seen a “dramatic shift” since Pakistan returned to civilian-led democracy, Mr Qureshi added after three-way talks with Turkey designed to help dispel years of mistrust between Kabul and Islamabad.
“(Taliban leaders) have fled the region because of very successful military operations Pakistan has undertaken in the tribal belt, in Swat and Malakand,” Mr Qureshi told a joint news conference with his Afghan and Turkish counterparts in Istanbul after the meeting.
The United States is waiting for Pakistan to launch a military operation in the North Waziristan tribal region, home to the Haqqani faction, and other Taliban groups, and a known stomping ground for al Qaeda fighters.
“My brother from Pakistan, the foreign minister, quoted full support for the peace process and Pakistan and Afghanistan will work together to achieve a peaceful solution to this conflict,” Afghanistan’s foreign minister Zalmay Rasul said when asked if the Taliban leadership was in Pakistan or Afghanistan.
Asked whether the Afghan government had given Pakistan any assurances over India’s strong diplomatic presence and links with Afghanistan, developments which have sparked Pakistani fears of encirclement, Mr Qureshi said a “different situation” now existed.
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‘Pak can’t act against Zardari’
age correspondent
Islamabad
The Pakistan government’s lawyer on Monday argued in the top court that the government cannot take action against the beneficiaries of the defunct National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).
The Supreme Court declared the NRO, promulgated by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, as illegal a few months earlier and asked the government to reopen all the cases withdrawn under the decree.
Several cases were open in the local courts but the corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari were not touched. The government insists Mr Zardari enjoys immunity as the head of the state.
“The Supreme Court made a mistake in its December 16, 2009 judgement on the NRO by asking the government to reopen Swiss cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. It should not have ordered this,” barrister Kamal Azfar. The lawyer said that NRO beneficiaries were neither served notices nor given an opportunity to explain themselves.