Pakistani, Afghan Political Leaders Slam US Aggressive Policies

Islamabad, Jan 29, IRNA – Senior Pakistani and Afghan political leaders have slammed US aggressive policies in region especially in Afghanistan. They made the remarks while speaking at “Peace and Reconciliation in Afghanistan” forum organized by Centre for Discussion and Solutions in Islamabad. Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam(S) Chief Maulana Samiul Haq urged Pakistani government to dissociate itself from so called war against terrorism and take individual steps to solve the issue. The religious leader blamed US for sabotaging peace talks between Pakistani government and Taliban. He said the US is against any dialogue between Taliban and Pakistan. Also addressing the conference, Speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq said Pakistan desires excellent relationship with Afghanistan. He noted that Islamabad supports peace and reconciliation in its neighboring state. Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Syed Munawar Hussain, commenting on withdrawal of Nato troops from Afghanistan, said Afghanistan has become the “graveyard of science and technology” for the West. Ahmadshah Ahmadzai, former prime minister of Afghanistan, said that people of Afghanistan want US to leave their country adding that they are not interested in signing a deal with US. Member of National Assembly and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that Afghanistan and Pakistan have no clear view about the situation that would arise after the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan. Afghan high peace council spokesman, Maulvi Shehzad Shahid called upon the government of Pakistan to help restore peace to Afghanistan and cooperate with high peace council in this regards. Iranˈs Ambassador to Pakistan Ali Reza Haghighian, and some political experts from Iranian embassy also participated in the conference./end