Pakistan reacts to Afghan FM's remarks

Pakistan on Monday said it did not given ethnic color to the Taliban campaign, reacting to accusations from Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta that Islamabad is trying to play down the threat of "international terrorism" by labeling the Taliban uprising in Afghanistan an ethnic issue.

"It was agreed in the meeting of President Bush, President Musharraf and President Hamid Karzai that Pakistan and Afghanistan will not exchange accusations in public. And it would be better if Afghanistan stops accusations," Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said.

Afghan Foreign Minister said in Kabul on Sunday that Pakistan wants to play down the issue of international terrorism to an ethnic issue in Afghanistan.

Spanta made remarks in response to a reported claim by President Pervez Musharraf that Taliban insurgents had roots among Afghanistan's Pashtun tribes.

President Musharraf made his comments in a speech to the European Parliament in mid-September.

Kasuri said that Pakistan has not given ethnic color to the Taliban campaign, saying Islamabad wants stability in Afghanistan.

Kasuri referred to a UN report which he said had stated that most actions and actors are originated inside Afghanistan.

He said the UN report had also mentioned the names of Taliban command centers within Afghanistan.

Source: Xinhua