Pak 'rubbishes' report of ISI training Taliban

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday dismissed a report that the Inter-Services Intelligence agency is funding, training and guiding the Taliban in Afghanistan as "rubbish", saying Talibanisation is not good for both countries.

Qureshi said he was "surprised and shocked" that an institution like the London School of Economics had prepared a report that alleged the ISI had links with the Afghan Taliban.

He said Western countries had, in their official communications, praised the role of the ISI and Pakistan's armed forces in the war on terror. Describing the report prepared by researched Matt Waldman as "rubbish", Qureshi said Talibanisation is not good for Pakistan or Afghanistan.

Pakistan's elected government has a clear "hands off policy" on Afghanistan, he said. The government had not interfered in Afghanistan's internal affairs and was instead cooperating with the neighbouring country, he added.

Western countries have acknowledgement Pakistan's sacrifices and economic losses due to the war on terror, and the United States and Britain have launched a strategic dialogue with Pakistan, Qureshi told a TV news channel.

Asked about an allegation in the LSE report that President Asif Ali Zardari and an ISI official had met arrested Afghan Taliban leaders, Qureshi said: "For the past two-and-half years, Zardari has been accused of toeing the line of the US, Britain and the West. It is strange that for first time he has now been linked to the Taliban. This shows what importance should be attached to this report."

Qureshi claimed knowledgeable circles were aware of the ISI's cooperation and sacrifices in the war on terror. "Who has captured more terrorists than the ISI?" he asked. He pointed out that militants had even attacked the ISI's offices in Lahore, Peshawar and Multan.

In a separate development, the Afghan Taliban too dismissed the LSE report, describing it as a drama staged by political leaders of the West. "The US, Britain, US and NATO alliance have failed to counter successful operations of the Taliban and now they want to involve their educational and research institutions in aggression in Afghanistan and against the Muslims and the report of the London School of Economics is an example," the Afghan Taliban said in a statement.

The Afghan Taliban consider the report "as a staged drama by political leaders of the West and not a report by an educational institution based on facts", the statement said.

The Taliban leadership is leading the jehad with the support of mujahideen inside Afghanistan and the militants control some 70 per cent of Afghanistan, the statement said. "The Islamic emirate does not need to have shura or councils outside the Afghan border," it added.

The Afghan Taliban invited the LSE and other educational and research institutions to come to Afghanistan to "see if those fighting in Taliban ranks and their leaders are Afghans or aliens", it said.

Meanwhile, Gen Stanley McChrystal, NATO's International Security Assistance Force commander, travelled to Pakistan on Monday to provide an update on current operations in Afghanistan and to hold consultations with Pakistan army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

McChrystal visits Pakistan regularly to consult with Kayani and Pakistani leaders on ISAF's activities, said a statement issued by the US embassy.

"ISAF and the US continue to collaborate and partner with Pakistan to achieve our mutual goals of defeating violent extremists and establishing peace and security in Pakistan and the region," the statement said.