No combat troops on our soil: Pak.

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, OCT. 12. Pakistan today denied reports that combat troops of the United States were on its soil and that it had agreed to provide two airfields for the emergency landing of U.S. aircraft engaged in airstrikes in Afghanistan operating from the Arabian Sea.

The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, Mr. Riaz Mohammad Khan, emphasised that providing access to the two airfields was part of the agreement to give logistical support.

``Let me say categorically that no operations are being conducted from Pakistan. There are no combat troops here. The landing facilities provided in the two airfields are only for emergency purposes. I am not even sure if the U.S. has used the logistical support till date,'' Mr. Khan said.

He reiterated that till date U.S. had not shared any details of military operations being conducted in Afghanistan. ``We are not part of the operations and they are not obliged to share the information with us,'' he said, asked if the U.S. had given any information on the operations.

But media reports from Jacobabad suggested that troops had been deployed to secure the town where U.S. forces had arrived to back up strikes in Afghanistan and that they were carrying out daily exercises.

To a question on the latest offer made by the U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush, that the Taliban militia was being given `one last chance' to surrender Osama bin Laden if it desired a halt to the airstrikes, Mr. Khan said Pakistan had no plans to mediate with the militia on the offer.

``We are not acting as a mediator at the moment. The Taliban very well knows what the international community expects from it. There is a point of contact in Islamabad (the Taliban Embassy) and we have stated the utility of the contact,'' Mr. Khan said.

On the statements from Washington and London that the war in Afghanistan would be protracted, he said Islamabad desired that the strikes in Afghanistan should be aimed at clear targets. ``The operation is to hunt down those suspected to be behind the September 11 attacks and their networks. We have made it clear that it is not a fight against Afghanistan or the people of Afghanistan.''

Civilian deaths

Asked why Pakistan fought shy of condemning the civilian causalities, Mr. Khan emphasised that a distinction would have to be made between premeditated killing of innocent citizens and the unintended deaths of civilians.

At one stage, Mr. Khan lost his cool when a reporter suggested that Pakistan was not prepared to condemn the civilian deaths in Afghanistan. ``Don't put words into my mouth. I never said we are condoning civilian deaths. Please re-formulate your questions,'' he chided the reporter.

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Section  : International
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