Foreign Office laughs at Afghan 'evidence

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan strongly rejected on Sunday the allegations of the Afghan Interior Minister of Inter-Services Intelligences (ISIs) involvement in the assassination of Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani, the Chairman of the Afghan High Peace Council. A statement issued by the Foreign Office said that instead of making such irresponsible statements, those in positions of authority in Kabul should seriously deliberate as to why all those Afghans who are favourably disposed towards peace and towards Pakistan are systematically being removed from the scene and killed. There is a need to take stock of the direction taken by Afghan intelligence and security agencies, the statement added. It said the so-called evidence given to the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul is actually a confessional statement of an Afghan national Hamidullah Akundzadeh, accused of masterminding the assassination. The authority concerned will work upon this piece of information. It further said that the Afghan Interior Minister has not highlighted the fact that the assassin and his handler were roaming around in Kandahar and Kabul for quite some time. Also, the statement said, that the Afghan Interior Minister did not say any thing about the assassin who had been for four days in the guesthouse of the High Peace Council managed by Afghans close to Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani. The assassin was also apparently not body searched before the meeting, the statement said, adding that these facts are also part of the confession handed over to the Embassy by the Afghan intelligence. The Afghan Interior Ministers statement is all the more regrettable as Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had himself offered cooperation in the investigation, during his visit to Kabul for condolences with Professor Rabbanis family and the Afghan people and government. Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani was a great friend of Pakistan and was widely respected in this country. He had lived in Pakistan for a long time and had many friends here, it added. Pakistan has unequivocally condemned the act of terrorism that led to the martyrdom of Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani. Pakistan reiterates its commitment to peace and stability as well as to mutual respect.