Taliban not terrorist: Pak.

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, OCT. 15. Pakistan today maintained that it did not regard the Taliban militia as ``terrorists'' and would continue to deal with the Afghanistan Government.

The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson, Mr. Riaz Mohammad Khan, told presspersons that Islamabad had never regarded the Taliban as terrorists and that is why it continued to maintain diplomatic ties with the militia. He was responding to a specific question on a recent newspaper article by the British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, wherein he had reportedly described the Taliban and Osama bin Laden as two sides of the same coin.

The Pakistani assertion is significant in the context of the growing unrest within the country over the Musharraf regime's decision to extend unstinted cooperation to the U.S. in its war against the Taliban and Osama.

The Musharraf Government has been particularly uncomfortable over reports of increasing civilian casualties in the course of the eight-day, U.S.-led bombardment of Afghanistan. In the face of growing criticism by the press here over the perceived silence of the Government on the casualties, the Foreign Office has been trying to draw a distinction between unintended civilian deaths and targeted civilian casualties. ``No, Taliban are not terrorists. We never regarded them as terrorists. After all they control a large part of Afghanistan'', Mr. Khan said.

He was at pains to emphasise that the U.S. was forced to declare a war on the Taliban after its leadership failed to hand over Osama as required by the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Mr. Khan said Pakistan was of the view that the war against Osama and his Taliban protectors would be short. ``Prolongation of military operations will be a source of concern to us...because with prolongation you can expect mishaps, in which innocent civilian lives can be lost.'' The matter would be on the agenda of discussions between the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf and the Foreign Minister, Mr. Abdul Sattar, when they met the visiting U.S. Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, he added.

Pakistan had been grieved and pained by civilian casualties and had noted American regrets over the deaths. ``We will again emphasise that the targets should be clearly focused to avoid civilian casualties,'' Mr. Khan said.

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Section  : International
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