Pakistan may boycott Bonn moot on Afghanistan

RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is likely to boycott a conference on Afghanistan's future. The Conference is scheduled for Dec 5 in Bonn, Germany, defence sources claimed.

However, Foreign Office said it was too early to say whether or not the country would boycott the conference.

Sources maintained the matter had been discussed in Defence Committee of Cabinet. Two of the ministers underscored the need for attending the Bonn conference. According to them, a boycott would not be in the interest of the country. However, the majority of participants voted in favour of a boycott of the conference as a protest against unprovoked Nato attack, killing 24 soldiers, sources said.

In a strong message, the Pak Army told Nato on Monday that an apology over the attack by the western military alliance was unacceptable to Pak military. Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas was reacting condolences offered by Nato Secretary General.

On Nato's website, the secretary general stated, "I offer my deepest condolences and sympathy to the families of the Pakistani officers and soldiers who lost their lives or were injured, and to the government and people of Pakistan, following the regrettable incident along the Afghan-Pakistani border".

He further said: "I have written to the Prime Minister of Pakistan to make it clear that the deaths of Pakistani personnel are as unacceptable and deplorable as the deaths of Afghan and international personnel".

The statement maintained that this was a tragic unintended incident.  "I fully support the ISAF investigation which is currently underway.  We will determine what happened, and draw the right lessons," he added.

"Nato remains strongly committed to work with Pakistan to improve cooperation to avoid such tragedies in the future".

It concluded: "We have a joint interest in the fight against cross-border terrorism and in ensuring that Afghanistan does not once again become a safe haven for terrorists. Nato and Pakistan share a common goal: a stable Afghanistan in a peaceful region".

The spokesman of ISPR speaking to a private TV channel on Sunday said Nato could not make the excuse that they were chasing terrorists across the border because the area where the attack took place had been cleared. Additionally, Nato had been provided maps of all Pakistani check-posts as reference and they had been informed about their positions.