Wanted people to be extradited to Pakistan: Mutawakil

By our correspondent - The News Int.

QUETTA: Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Maulvi Wakil Ahmed Mutawakil on Thursday assured that the Afghan government would hand over those Pakistanis who were wanted by the Pakistan government despite the fact that there was no such agreement between the two countries.

Addressing a news conference here at the Afghan Consulate, the Afghan foreign minister, flanked by Afghan Council General Maulana Abdul Ahad, said that the Pakistani government had provided a list of the criminals to the Afghan government, seeking their arrest and extradition to Pakistan. "If these criminals are in Afghanistan, we will hand them over," he assured.

Regarding Osama bin Laden, the Afghan foreign minister, categorically, said: "Bin Laden is our guest and it is our duty to provide him full security and protection," and added that there was no change in the Afghan policy in this regard.

He said there is no justification for another US attack on Afghanistan in this connection and warned "if the US does so, we have the right to respond, befittingly". To a question, he denied existence of terrorism training camps in Afghanistan. "Nobody is being provided any such training there," he added.

About poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, he said that Afghan government had completely banned the cultivation of poppy and was reviewing the alternatives to be provided to the poppy growers.

He said drought still persists in Afghanistan and the United Nations (UN) is providing only small quantity of wheat to the affected people. He, however, maintained that there was no scarcity of wheat in Afghanistan as the government had enough stock of the commodity as per their needs.

About his participation in the Islamic Conference in Doha, he said that he had attended the Islamic Summit where various matters, including Afghanistan and Chechenya, also came up for threadbare discussion. "I also met the Chief Executive of Pakistan General Pervaiz Musharraf there and discussed various matters with him," he added.

He dispelled the impression that Congo virus came in Balochistan from Afghanistan, saying that the Afghan local government department had imposed a ban on the movement of cattle outside the country.