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USA: White House declines to discuss Baradar’s arrest

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  • USA: White House declines to discuss Baradar’s arrest

    USA: White House declines to discuss Baradar’s arrest


    By Anwar Iqbal
    WASHINGTON, (Dawn): The White House on Tuesday refused to discuss publicly the arrest of the Taliban’s military chief in Karachi about seven days ago but did not reject the suggestion that he had been captured.

    Earlier, while speaking to various news outlets, US officials confirmed that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was arrested in a secret joint operation by Pakistani and US intelligence forces.

    “This is a major player in the Afghan Taliban, someone with a lot of blood on his hands,” a senior US official told Fox News. “If he’s off the streets, it would be a serious setback for the Taliban in the near term and deal a severe personal blow to Mullah Omar, who has relied on him for years as a trusted associate.”

    Mullah Baradar’s arrest was also confirmed by the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry who told CBS News that his capture was proof of a “stronger cooperative effort” between the United States and Pakistan.

    Speaking form Islamabad, where he was briefed about Mullah Baradar’s arrest, the senator described the catch as a signal that “Pakistan will pursue militants who engage in violent extremist acts against its people.” The Pakistani government, he said, knew that “this fight is their fight”.

    At the White House, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said he was not going to get into details “about this individual or others”, when asked what Mullah Baradar’s arrest meant for the US-led war against terror.

    Asked why it was important not to talk about it, Mr Gibbs said: “Obviously this involves very sensitive intelligence matters, this involves the collection of intelligence, and it is best to do that and not to necessarily talk about it.”

    Commenting on the suggestion that the arrest indicated greater cooperation between Pakistani and United States intelligence agencies, Mr Gibbs said: “I think we have, over the course of many months, seen an increase in that cooperation.”

    Since last spring, he added, the United States had “seen increase in the Pakistani push back on extremists in their own country, which is beneficial not simply for us”, but for Pakistan as well.

    The Pakistanis, he said, had realised that the extremist operating within their border threatened their country as well.

    The White House press secretary agreed with the suggestion that the successful military operation in Swat encouraged Pakistan to increase its cooperation with the US.

    “We have had, through engagement, an increased amount of cooperation with them.

    “We’re working constructively with them, meeting with them regularly. We have a better intelligence-sharing capability,” said Mr Gibbs.

    “I don’t think it’s an either/or. I think, in this case, as I said in my first answer, I think their realization of what was happening within their own country and the threat that it posed also played a big part in changing their actions.”

    Asked if Mullah Baradar’s capture vindicated the Obama administration’s anti-terrorism policies, the White House Press Secretary said: “We’re not looking for a vindication.

    “The president has taken strong steps to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to keep our country safe.”

    If talking about Mullah Baradar’s arrest was going to endanger the United States mission in the Pak-Afghan region, why the news of the arrest became public, asked a journalist.

    “Well, I will say this -- well, I’m — I’m not going to do this. I said I wasn’t and I’m not going to get dragged into -- look, anytime classified information becomes public, it’s never helpful,” said Mr Gibbs.
    میں نےجو کیا وہ برا کیا،میں نے خود کو خود ہی تباہ کیا

    جو تجھے پسند ہو میرے رب،مجھے اس ادا کی تلاش ہے

    http://www.123muslim.com/discussion-...d-arround.html

  • #2
    Anyone read such news articles on this forum

    Comment


    • #3
      yeah i do

      keeping an eye on whats happening isn't a bad thing
      میں نےجو کیا وہ برا کیا،میں نے خود کو خود ہی تباہ کیا

      جو تجھے پسند ہو میرے رب،مجھے اس ادا کی تلاش ہے

      http://www.123muslim.com/discussion-...d-arround.html

      Comment

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