Kabul says not releasing Pakistani prisoners

KABUL’s jails, calling a media report in this regard as baseless.

The Pakistani media on Sunday quoted Maulana Gul Nasib, a central leader of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) party led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, as saying the Afghan government would release 2500 Pakistani prisoners soon.

He said Fazlur Rahman, who recently visited Kabul and met twice with President Hamid Karzai earlier this month, had raised the issue with the Afghan leader.

Nasib, who accompanied Rahman on his trip to Kabul, was speaking to reporters in the Lower Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday.

But presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi rejected Nasib’s remarks as baseless, saying Kabul was not considering the releases of Pakistani inmates.

He said there had been no discussions between President Karzai and the Pakistani delegation led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman on the issue of prisoners.

However, Faizi told Pajhwok Afghan News Fazlur Rahman had urged President Karzai to release prisoners linked to his faction.

In response, he said, President Karzai told the Maulana that his government would look into the cases of JUI-F-linked prisoners, but did not promise their release.

He said there was no agreement under which Kabul would release such a large number of Pakistanis detained on various charges, including terrorist activities in Afghanistan.

mrh/ma

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