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Islamabad will cooperate fully

Hindustan Times - India, Sep 15, 2001
BY MUBASHIR ZAIDI AND AGENCIES

Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdus Sattar on Saturday night announced his government would fully cooperate with the United States and the world to bring to justice the "perpetrators, organizers and sponsors" of Tuesday's terrorist attack on the US. According to Pakistani diplomatic and military sources, this reflected Islamabad's quiet agreement to allow the stationing of a multinational force on Pakistani soil. Sattar made his statement after Pakistan's National Security Council and Cabinet met for four hours to assess the US demand that Pakistan help it capture Osama bin Laden.

In seemingly contradictory statements, Sattar insisted Pakistan would not allow any military attack from its soil on Afghanistan. Nor would its troops participate in such an action. In the same breath he then insisted Pakistan would support any US action against Afghanistan. He called the situation "complex."

Sattar said Pakistan would obey UN resolutions and discharge its duties to combat terrorism under international law.

At Camp David, near Washington, US Secretary of State Colin Powell praised Pakistan for agreeing to help the US "in whatever might be required" in dealing with Afghanistan. Pakistan had agreed to all of the US's demands, he said.

Neither Sattar nor Powell spelt out what the demands were. Sattar said the National Security Council and the Cabinet had observed one minute of silence in memory of the victims of Black Tuesday. Yesterday, at a meeting with the corps commanders a decision was taken to cooperate with the US.

He denied reports that agents of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation had arrived in Islamabad on Friday. Rumours about the US agents arose after Islamabad airport closed down for four hours to let an airplane carrying two dozen foreigners to land at Chaklala air base.

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