Pakistan offers cooperation to Afghanistan in Rabbani assassination probe

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday offered full assistance and cooperation to Afghanistan into the investigation of assassination of Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Ms. Tehmina Janjua in her weekly briefing said Pakistan has already strongly rejected the baseless allegations of the Afghan Interior Minister of Pakistan's premier intelligence agencies involvement in the assassination of Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani who was the Chairman of the Afghan High Peace Council.

She said Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani especially visited Kabul to condole the death of Prof Rabbani and offered cooperation in the investigation.

The spokesperson said Pakistan has received material from the Kabul administration through Pakistan's embassy there that evidence is actually a confessional statement of an Afghan national Hamidullah Akundzadeh accused of master-minding the assassination.

She said Pakistan is examining the material comprising so-called confessional statement of the Afghan national.

The spokesperson said Pakistan has unequivocally condemned the act of terrorism that led to the killing of Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani and expressed its commitment to peace and stability as well as to mutual respect.

Replying to a question on the recent visit of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to Indian and the strategic agreements between the two countries, she said Pakistan is not worried about the
agreement as it is the sovereign right of any country to promote bilateral relations with any other country.

The spokesperson said safeguarding national interests is the primary focus of Pakistan's foreign policy. She said Pakistan's interaction with members of the international community is solely guided by Pakistan national interest.

She said, "We are aware of the regional complexities and are trying to address them, but we have made it clear to everyone that safeguarding our national interests is the primary focus of our foreign policy."

Other countries also need to have an objective appreciation of regional complexities, she added.

Referring to the resolution adopted by the All Parties Conference (APC) convened by Prime Minister Gilani, the spokesperson said, "The APC underscored the need to further enhance our brotherly bilateral relations with Afghanistan at three levels on priority that include government to government, institution to institution and people to people."

She said the people of Pakistan have the best of relations with the people of Afghanistan and these relations are rooted in a common history, culture, and tradition.

The spokesperson said, "At this defining stage when challenges have multiplied, as have the opportunities, it is our expectation that everyone, especially those in position of authority in
Afghanistan, will demonstrate requisite maturity and responsibility."

"This is no time for point scoring, playing politics," she added.

On Pakistan-India relations, the spokesperson said Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim had a good visit to India during which both the countries have agreed that the Commerce Secretaries will meet again in Nov to discuss further enhancement of trade relations between the two countries.

She said, the issue of giving Most Favourite Nation (MFN) to India will also be discussed in coming bilateral meetings in coming weeks.

She said Pakistan hoped that India's decision not to raise any further questions in the World Trade Organization (WTO) will smooth the way for the early agreement on EU waiver on a specific list of foods in the WTO.

Replying to a question about Pak-US relations, the spokesperson said a number of statements from Washington in the recent days had indicated that America need cooperation with Pakistan and both the countries are working on it.(APP)