DATE=8/25/98
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-237634
TITLE=PAKISTAN BHUTTO (L)
BYLINE=DOUGLAS BAKSHIAN
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: FORMER PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER BENAZIR BHUTTO SAYS HER
COUNTRY'S OFFICIAL POLICY OF NEUTRALITY IN THE AFGHAN CIVIL WAR
MAY HAVE BEEN UNDERMINED BY GROUPS WITHIN PAKISTAN.
CORRESPONDENT DOUGLAS BAKSHIAN REPORTS FROM ISLAMABAD.
TEXT: AT A NEWS CONFERENCE IN THE PAKISTANI CAPITAL, MRS. BHUTTO
CALLED FOR AN INVESTIGATION INTO PERSISTENT CHARGES PAKISTAN HAS
SUPPORTED THE TALEBAN MOVEMENT WITH ARMS AND TRAINING.
IRAN, RUSSIA, AND AFGHAN OPPOSITION FORCES HAVE REPEATEDLY
ACCUSED PAKISTAN'S POWERFUL INTER-SERVICES-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY,
THE I-S-I, OF INVOLVEMENT WITH THE TALEBAN.
MRS. BHUTTO SAYS SHE DOES NOT KNOW IF THIS IS TRUE, BUT SOME
KIND OF PROBE SHOULD BE HELD.
// BHUTTO ACT //
I DO NOT KNOW WHETHER IT WAS THE I-S-I. I DO NOT KNOW
WHETHER THERE ARE OTHER PARAMILITARY GROUPS FROM
MADRASSAS WHO WERE ACTING UPON THEIR OWN. WHAT I AM
CALLING UPON PAKISTAN TO DO NOW IS TO HOLD AN INQUIRY AS
TO WHY THERE IS A PERCEIVED DICHOTOMY (CONTRADICTION)
BETWEEN THE POLICY ANNOUNCED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF
PAKISTAN AND THE GROUND REALITIES AS PERCEIVED BY OUR
NEIGHBORS.
// END ACT //
THE MADRASSAS MRS. BHUTTO REFERRED TO ARE RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS RUN
BY RIGHT WING ISLAMIC PARTIES IN PAKISTAN. ISLAMABAD HAS
ACKNOWLEDGED SOME RELIGIOUS PARTIES, ACTING ON THEIR OWN, HAVE
SENT PEOPLE INTO AFGHANISTAN TO FIGHT FOR THE TALEBAN. BUT
ISLAMABAD DENIES OFFICIAL INVOLVEMENT OF ITS MILITARY OR SECURITY
AGENCIES WITH THE TALEBAN.
THE TALEBAN MOVEMENT APPEARED ON THE SCENE IN 1994 WHEN MRS.
BHUTTO WAS IN POWER. PAKISTAN IS ONE OF THE THREE COUNTRIES,
ALONG WITH SAUDI ARABIA AND THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, THAT
RECOGNIZES THE TALEBAN GOVERNMENT. (SIGNED)
NEB/DB/LTD/RAE
25-Aug-98 12:02 PM EDT (1602 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
