Terrorists Fleeing Pakistan: FM Qureshi

WASHINGTON: Pakistan said terrorists are fleeing its tribal areas as a result of  the country’s intensive military campaign with its Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi urging a long-term U.S.  commitment and “more” consultations between Washington and Islamabad on devising a way forward in the region.

“Today, as we put heat on the terrorists in Pakistan, in the tribal belt, they are fleeing Pakistan, the  sanctuaries they had are no longer acceptable to the people of Pakistan,” Qureshi said in an  interview.

Pakistan has successfully eliminated terrorists training camps in recent years, he said in reference to  militants who had crossed over to Pakistan to find sanctuaries following the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan  immediately after September 11. 2001 terrorist attacks.

The top Pakistani diplomat spoke as Islamabad planned a major assault on militant stronghold Wasziristan on the heels of its widely-hailed anti-militant success in Swat and other northwestern valleys.

He ruled out the presence of Taliban leadership in Quetta, asking the United States to share any  intelligence it had about Taliban leader Mullah Omar’s being in the capital of Balochistan province.

“If the U.S. intelligence is that clear, it should share that intelligence with us and we will help them,  catch him. Because we have an interest in getting hold of Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden. But we are not sure of  their presence. If you are confident of the information that you have, we are your allies, share it with us.”

“I don’t think they know,” he pointed out, when asked if the U.S. is not sharing information proving Omar’s  presence in Quetta.

“If they were there, we could have traced them out. But we don’t think they are there,” the foreign  minister satated in response to another question regarding assertions that the Taliban leaders were hiding in  Quetta.