PESHAWAR: Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan, Mohammad Umer Daudzai, has said the Afghan and Pakistan governments were holding talks on an extradition treaty that would resolve the problem of handing over wanted persons to each other.
Talking to a small group of reporters during his visit to Peshawar on Wednesday, he pointed out that Afghanistan has signed judicial agreements with Iran and Tajikistan and would like to conclude a similar one with Pakistan. “The judicial agreement covers extradition and also the issue of attorneys and witnesses in legal cases,” he added.
Daudzai recalled that Pakistan had declined to hand over jailed Afghan Taliban figures to Afghanistan citing the absence of an extradition treaty between the two countries. In reply to a question regarding Pakistan’s request to the Afghan government to hand over Pakistani Taliban commander Mauivi Faqir Mohammad to it, he said Kabul was still trying to determine if the man captured in Afghanistan is Faqir Mohammad. “We have assured the Pakistan government that he won’t be released once it was determined that he was indeed Maulvi Faqir Mohammad. However, we won’t be able to hand him over to Pakistan as we don’t have an extradition treaty,” he argued.
The Afghan ambassador insisted that Afghanistan’s foreign minister or other officials had never stated categorically that Maulvi Faqir Mohammad had been captured in Afghanistan. He also denied a media report quoting Pakistan’s interior ministry sources that the Kabul had demanded release of Afghan Taliban’s former deputy leader Mulla Abdul Ghani Biradar in exchange for Maulvi Faqir Mohammad.
Explaining the Afghan government’s stance on the release of Afghan Taliban figures held in Pakistan, Daudzai said they had asked Islamabad to hand over the freed men to Kabul or a third country. “Islamabad declined to do so. Then it released 26 Afghan Taliban and didn’t share information about them with Kabul. We had asked specifically for the release of four Afghan Taliban leaders including Mulla Biradar, Nooruddin Turabi, Anwarul Haq Mujahid and Abdul Ahad Jehangirwal but only Turabi and Mujahid were freed,” he explained.
The Afghan ambassador said they were unaware of the whereabouts of the 26 Afghan Taliban figures released by the Pakistan government and didn’t know if they had gone to Qatar or returned to the battlefield. “None of them has gone to Afghanistan,” he added.
He said in future a joint committee of two Afghan and two Pakistani officials would coordinate with each before more Afghan Taliban prisoners in Pakistan are released. “This sub-group would hold its first meeting in the first week of April and we hope more Taliban prisoners would be freed by the Pakistan government,” the Afghan envoy said.
About the likelihood of talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, he said no such negotiations were taking place presently. “Also, no talks are taking place between the Taliban and the US though there had been contacts among them,” he added. “Taliban would have to first agree to dissociate from al-Qaeda and hold talks with Afghanistan’s High Peace Council. Only then a memorandum of understanding would be signed between the Afghan and Qatar governments for opening the Taliban office there and starting peace talks,” Daudzai said.
On the question of President Hamid Karzai’s recent outburst against the US, the ambassador contended that Karzai was highlighting the issue of Afghanistan’s sovereignty by demanding the handover of the Bagram prison to the Afghan government and withdrawal of US Special Forces from Wardak province. “The US needs to respect President Karzai’s orders as not doing so amounts to violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty. However, let me state that this issue won’t effect the strategic partnership agreement between Afghanistan and the US and the proposed security accord that is being negotiated,” he argued.
He said the US military role in Afghanistan was changing from combat to training. He said President Karzai recently questioned the Taliban policy and intentions by pointing out that they were demanding immediate pullout of all foreign forces from Afghanistan but were unwilling to hold peace talks with the Afghan government. “But whatever the Taliban say or do, our priorities in Afghanistan are nation-building, enhancing security capabilities and ensuring economic sustainability. Afghanistan certainly has a bright future,” he stressed.
When asked to comment on media reports that he could be a candidate in Afghanistan’s next presidential election. Daudzai said: “This could be an option, but I am not yet a candidate. I believe every Afghan should contribute to Afghanistan’s reconstruction and stability by ensuring that reforms initiated by President Karzai continue and shortcomings are overcome.”
Related tags:
Latest news, world news, current affairs, breaking news, arab
country news, daily news, Islamic news, india news, Pakistan news, , india Pakistan
news, current news, news headlines, Latest World News,Articles,
Latest news, latest urdu news, world news, current affairs,
breaking news, arab country news, sport news, cricket news, daily news, Islamic
news, india news, Pakistan news, india Pakistan news, current news,Current
affairs, Economic Affairs,Islam and Human Rights, Islam and Politics , Islam
and the West, Muslim Media, Islamic Society, Islamic World,Latest World
News, breaking news ,Top Breaking News, Current Affairs, daily news, recent
news, news headlines
Daudzai said he met Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shaukatullah and government officials dealing with the issue of Afghan refugees during his Peshawar visit. “The situation of Afghan refugees has improved. They continue to face some problems, but overall improvements have occurred in the way they are treated here. However, they are complaining about the lack of support from the two NGOs that receive money from the UNHCR to provide legal assistance to the Afghan refugees,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment