Pakistan Denies Taliban Leader Arrest

Reports suggested the third ranking Taliban leader was arrested in the southwestern city of Quetta. (Reuters)

"There is no reality in this report. This is totally baseless and fabricated," Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema, head of the Crisis Management Cell of the Interior Ministry, told Islamonline.net.

He stressed that no security operation had been conducted in the southwestern city of Quetta or elsewhere.

Several media outlets have ported that Pakistani security forces had captured Mullah Obaidullah, who has a one-million-dollar bounty on his head, in the mountain-fringed city, 80 kilometers from the border.

"We did arrest five Afghan nationals a few days ago from Quetta for not possessing required residential documents, however during interrogation, they simply appeared to be violators of the immigration laws", Cheema said.

"No information regarding a person like Mullah Obaidullah was extracted from them either", he insisted.

Taliban has also denied the arrest of Obaidullah, the third most senior member of Taliban.

Hailing from Punjwai district of Kandahar province, he is believed to be leading the resistance against NATO troops in southern Afghan provinces of Kandahar, Zabul and Hilmand.

Fourteen commanders appointed by the Taliban leadership for two war zones in southern and eastern Afghanistan report directly to the 10-member leadership council.

The council is supervised by Mullah Obaidullah and Mullah Beradar, who are to report matters directly to Mullah Omar, intelligence sources say.

His capture would be the first time Pakistan had arrested a senior leader of Taliban since it was driven from power in Afghanistan in 2001.

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Pakistan backtracked on supporting the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and became a font-line ally in Washington's so-called war on terrorism.

Unsafe

Security experts believe Pakistan's soil is no more a safe haven for Taliban and Al- Qaeda leaders.

"Pakistan is no more safe for Taliban or so-called Al-Qaeda leaders," Abdul Khalique Ali, a senior Pakistani journalist who writes on defense and security affairs, told IOL.

Some low-ranked NATO commanders and Afghan government have constantly been blaming Pakistan for harboring and patronizing Taliban leaders.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, by time and again, has claimed that Mullah Omer is hiding in Quetta.

"I can just laugh at the claims of Afghan government or the NATO commanders. If Pakistan is patronizing Taliban and Al-Qaeda, then what about the 700 army men it lost in northern tribal area," Ali contended.

"There can be debate on the army 's fighting capability against militants, however, it is ridiculous to say that it is patronizing Taliban."

Shahid Siddiqui, a senior columnist, concurs.

"It is unfair to say that Pakistan was not serious to take action against Taliban. It is serious, however, I am skeptical about the strategy adopted by the army against militants," he told IOL.

"The hue and cry over so-called patronization of Taliban is nothing more than a pressure tactic. Pakistan has already done a lot. In fact it has risked its internal security for America and Afghanistan."

Siddiqui said the current weak regime in Afghanistan perfectly suites Taliban.

"There is no Karzai government beyond Kabul. Where the road ends, Taliban's rule begins. Therefore, they don't need to trickle into Pakistan and risk their safety."

US Vice President Dick Cheney visited Afghanistan and Pakistan earlier this week and urged Musharraf to take tougher action against militants on his side of the lawless border.

He spoke of attempts inside the US Congress to restrict or alter billions of dollars in annual US aid to Pakistan.