Pakistan’s objections over the constitution of a panel to visit Islamabad and share ‘intelligence’ on last month’s killing of Afghan peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani have ultimately delayed the visit, The Express Tribune learnt on Saturday.
No date had been announced for the visit but Afghan officials in Kabul, as well as the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan, had said last week that the team would visit Islamabad in the coming days.
“Afghan officials, the Pakistani embassy in Kabul and the Afghan embassy in Islamabad are now coordinating to remove the differences,” official and diplomatic sources said.
Pakistan has officially conveyed to the Afghan government that it will receive members of the commission and will help in the investigation process.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani offered to share intelligence on the investigation into the assassination of Rabbani with Afghanistan.
Rabbani was killed by a turban bomber at his residence in the upscale Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood of Kabul on September 20. The Taliban had immediately claimed responsibility for the killing, only to disown it a day later.
Days after Rabbani’s murder, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, had himself announced to send members of the inquiry commission to Islamabad to seek “help from Pakistani brothers” in the investigation process.
Headed by Aghan Defence Minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak, the Afghan inquiry commission includes the interior minister, heads of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) and National Security Council and the country’s attorney-general.
Pakistan had been upset at the barrage of allegations by the Afghan intelligence and Interior Minister Bismillah Khan, who directly charged the country’s intelligence agency with helping the Afghan Taliban to kill Rabbani, even before the inquiry commission started investigations. Islamabad insists that Kabul should have used the bilateral intelligence sharing forum instead of using the media to hold Pakistan responsible for the high-profile murder.
Karzai’s government is under mounting pressure from Rabbani’s Jamiat-e-Islami party to involve the UN in the investigation into the high-profile murder, saying they are dissatisfied with the capability of Afghan intelligence and law enforcement agencies to probe the incident.
Afghan officials say they have attached high hopes to the delegation’s visit to Islamabad to share information with Pakistan and seek help from Pakistani security officials.
They alleged the investigation and information of Afghanistan’s national security body, so far, shows that the trail leads to Quetta as well as several individuals.
Iran quest for trilateral meet fails
Meanwhile, Iran’s efforts to bring Afghanistan and Pakistani leaders at the trilateral summit in Islamabad failed with Afghanistan not consenting to the new date, an Afghan source told The Express Tribune.
The tril ateral summit had been scheduled to be held in Islamabad in December but in view of the deteriorated relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had proposed dates in the second week of October.
He had also made a call to President Karzai a few days ago for this purpose but his efforts yielded no results.
Contacts with Taliban severed
The Afghan government and its peace commission have severed direct contacts with the Taliban and have now ‘requested Pakistan to do more in the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan, an Afghan official told The Express Tribune on Saturday in Islamabad. “Pakistan can do a lot,” he insisted.
“The Taliban can now join the dialogue process through the Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Peace and Reconciliation Commission,” the official said while requesting anonymity.
Afghan finance minister visit delayed
Afghan Finance Minister Omar Zakhelwal’s visit to Islamabad, scheduled to start on October 12, has been delayed till November 20th, an Afghan source said.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 16th, 2011.
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