Posted on 06/20/2005 6:24:38 PM PDT by Qaz_W
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan security forces have arrested three Pakistanis for allegedly planning to assassinate the U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington's future envoy to Iraq, an Afghan government official said on Monday.
The Pakistanis, who were suspected of being linked to a Pakistani Islamic militant group, were arrested in the eastern province of Laghman on Saturday, the day before Khalilzad made a visit there, said the official, who declined to be identified.
"They admitted they were there to try to get Khalilzad," he said.
Afghanistan's presidential palace provided Reuters with a videotape showing three young men who identified themselves as Morad Khan, Zahid, son of Omar Said, and Gul Alem.
The men, who appeared to be in their late teens or early 20s, were dressed in traditional long-shirted shalwar kameez outfits and all said they were from the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, which is close to Afghan border.
The Afghan official said they were caught with two AK-47 rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and rocket grenades, shown in the videotape.
The U.S. government said it was seeking more information.
"We cannot verify the facts as reported by the Afghans," a State Department spokesman said. "who, what, where and when are all details that we just don't have."
Pakistan was confident Afghanistan would investigate the matter to determine the facts, a Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman said in Islamabad.
"Pakistan condemns all acts of terrorism," said the spokesman, Jalil Abbas Jilani. "We are confident that Afghan authorities will properly investigate the matter in order to ascertain the identity and motives of the plotters."
Khalilzad, who is due to take up a new post as ambassador to Iraq, visited Laghman to inaugurate a new military unit.
The official said it was unclear to which militant group the men belonged. "But we are pretty sure they are linked to a Pakistani militant group, the Taliban or al Qaeda," he said.
CRITICISM
Khalilzad has been outspoken in his criticism of Pakistan in recent days, despite its status as a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
In an interview with Afghan television on Friday, he said there was a good chance Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was hiding in Pakistan and accused Islamabad of failing to act against fugitive Taliban leaders, charges Pakistan called "irresponsible".
Khalilzad said on Thursday he did not believe Omar and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden -- who U.S. officials have long believed to be hiding on the Afghan-Pakistan border -- were in Afghanistan.
In an interview with Time Magazine published on Sunday, Porter Goss, director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, said he has an "excellent" idea where bin Laden was hiding, but he would not be brought to justice until weak links in counterterrorism efforts were strengthened. He did not elaborate.
Pakistan was the main backer of the Taliban government until the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. U.S. forces overthrew the Taliban in late-2001 for failing to hand over bin Laden.
Pakistani spokesman Jilani said Goss had made a general comment and had not identified a particular country. Goss had in the past praised Pakistan for arresting militants, he said.
"He made a general remark and I don't think there is any connection between what the CIA director has said and what Zalmay Khalilzad has said," he told a regular briefing.
Pakistanis are protecting key Taliban figures. They help with Al Qaeda for sure, but they protect the Talibs and their own local terrorists.
It kind of amazes me how little play these Pakistani threads receive.
Another little thing which Mush knew knows nothing about.
Funny, that, in a dictatorship, this dicktator seems to be clueless about what his Securitat is upto.
Perhaps more money is needed to persuade the Pakis to like us.
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