Afghan ambassador: Diplomat uncertain of Maulvi Faqir’s arrest

Authorities are working on identification of suspects: Daudzai.

ISLAMABAD:

Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Umer Daudzai has said that Afghan authorities are yet to confirm the arrest of Pakistani Taliban leader Maulvi Faqir.

The statement comes after Pakistan authorities requested Kabul to hand over Maulvi Faqir who along with his four accomplices was said to have been captured last week during an operation in eastern Afghanistan. The request was subsequently rejected by the Afghan authorities on the basis that there was no extradition agreement between the two countries.

The Afghan ambassador, however, said that he could not confirm if the TTP leader was among the militants captured in the operation, adding that investigation in the matter was underway.

“It is not yet proved that Maulvi Faqir is with us. The authorities have arrested a few people but we need to verify if he is the same person. We have already initiated an investigation,” Daudzai told The Express Tribune.

“But if he is among them, we assure Pakistan that we will not free him,” he added.



Responding to a question about Pakistan’s demand of handing Maulvi Faqir to its authorities, Daudzai stated that Islamabad was in no position to make the demand since there was no agreement regarding the exchange of prisoners between the neighbours.

“Pakistan has not handed over our Taliban. So it is a bilateral issue,” Daudzai explained. “Islamabad says that there is no bilateral agreement on exchange of prisoners. Basing on this if you refuse to hand over Mulla Baradar (the Taliban deputy) then Maulvi Faqir should remain in Afghanistan”.

Regarding the controversy over the proposed religious scholars’ conference in Kabul, he said that he was in talks with the chief of the Pakistani Ulema Council Allama Tahir Ashrafi, who might agree to attend.

Ashrafi had earlier refused to be part of the conference,  on the plea that the conference would be used against the Taliban. Daudzai added that he was also in talks with the Pakistani foreign ministry to discuss the issue. Expressing hope, the ambassador said a new round of talks were soon to resume in Islamabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2013.