Fire ravages Pak. military headquarters

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, OCT. 10. A major fire in the military headquarters of the Pakistan Army at Rawalpindi early this morning led to wild speculations though the military spokesman was quick to urge the media not to read any meaning into the accident.

It is believed that a short circuit had caused the fire and an investigation is in progress to determine the exact cause and the extent of damage. It took a few hours for the fire brigade to extinguish it.

In an another development a spokesman of the Pakistan Foreign Office told correspondents here that the Kashmir issue would form an important part of the discussion during the visit of the U.S. Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, to Islamabad.

Gen. Powell is scheduled to visit Islamabad and New Delhi in the next few days to discuss the latest developments centered on Afghanistan and the military campaign being spearheaded by the U.S. against the Taliban militia.

``Naturally the discussion would focus on Afghanistan'', the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman said. ``Pakistan, India relations particularly the Kashmir question and the need for a purposeful and result-oriented dialogue between the countries would make an important part of the deliberations'', he said.

At a press conference the Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Saleem Zaeef, claimed that Osama bin Laden is alive and safe despite four days of U.S. bombings. He said Afghanistan is still capable of defending itself despite U.S. claims of air supremacy.

The envoy also said the Opposition Northern Alliance had failed to make advances against Taliban forces despite the bombing campaign. He said the Opposition has no support among Afghanistan's 21 million people. Mullah Zaeef said the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, was safe despite three days of attacks on his home and office in the Kandahar area.

``Mr. Bush's claim that they destroyed the defence capability of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is not true,'' Mullah Zaeef said. ``American planes are flying very high and the defense system that they have is not in the range of what we have. We do not have a sophisticated and modern defense system. But that they have destroyed our defense capability is not true.''

Meanwhile authorities in NWFP have contradicted reports that there has been a clash between the para-military forces of Pakistan and the Taliban militia. A spokesman of the NWFP has said that there was an exchange of words between the guards on the Pakistani side and a group of the Taliban militia when a group of 25 men from the militia wanted to enter Pakistan after the regular hours.

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Section  : International
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