Osama hiding near Pak-Afghan border.
Islamabad, Feb 29 - Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah has claimed that Osama Bin Laden and ex-Taliban chief Mullah Omar are still hiding near the Pak-Afghan border.
The Pakistani private NNI news agency quoted Abdullah as saying that it is hard to predict that both fugitives could be arrested soon.
"As a matter of fact, Taliban and Al-Qaeda (aspirations) have been defeated. According to the present situation in Afghanistan and international scenario, they can't come back to power."
He appreciated Pakistan's role in the fight against terrorism and said Pakistan and Afghanistan as good neighbours are cooperating with each other in different fields, especially in the war against terrorism.
"There is a great capacity of enhancing relations between the two countries."
"Terrorism is a great danger for Afghanistan and Pakistan (and) even for the whole world and it is the need of the hour to fight against it jointly," he added.
The Afghan Foreign Minister said that Afghanistan is satisfied with the tripartite commission consisting of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States. The tripartite commission has been working for the benefit of all member countries in the interest of which matters pertaining to maintenance of security are being discussed, Abdullah added.
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Iran dismisses US claims on Al-Qaeda
05:53:12 È.Ù
Islamabad, Feb 29 - Iran on Sunday categorically rejected claims by a US state department official alleging that fugitive members of Al-Qaeda have taken refuge in the Islamic Republic.
"The claims are baseless since the stand of the government of Iran regarding sectarianism and terrorism is both transparent and a principle one," Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian told reporters.
J Cofer Black introduced by a local TV network in Pakistan as US state department's ambassador-at-large said Sunday that Tehran was in contact with Al-Qaeda.
"These Al-Qaeda operators are not only a threat to the US but they are also a threat to Pakistan," he went on claiming.
In response to his allegations, the Iranian envoy stated: "In our bilateral relations, Pakistan and Iran do not need a spokesman."
Taherian also remarked that Black's designation as presented by the GEO TV was not known to the diplomatic circles.
Reliable sources here told IRNA that Black was a department of state official as a coordinator of counter-terrorism and suggested that GEO producers might have made a mistake with the title.
They also said that Black served for 28 years in the CIA. In part of the TV interview, the US official was reluctant to answer some questions related to intelligence. He neither confirmed nor contradicted news on a recent secret visit of the US spy chi ef George Tenet to Pakistan.
He was neither ready to comment on a reported meeting between Tenet and Pakistan's senior nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan in Islamabad, but said that Dr Khan was definitely providing vital information about proliferation.
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