Pakistan denies arrest of Taliban chief
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The Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik Wednesday night denied the report that the Taliban Chief in Afghanistan Mullah Omar was arrested in Pakistan, saying Mullah Omar is still active in Afghanistan.
During an exclusive interview with a local Urdu TV channel Dawn News, the minister said Mullah Omar is not in the custody of the ISI (Inter-service Intelligence) and he is still in Qandahar of Afghanistan.
The minister also said Osama Bin Laden is neither in the Pakistani territory nor in the area bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan.
He disclosed that so far a total of 2,470 key member terrorists including some important Taliban leaders have been arrested in Pakistan. However, he failed to mention since when these arrests have been made.
This is the first official response made by the Pakistani government to the recent reports by the world media that Mullah Omar was arrested by the ISI in Pakistan following an American blogger's claim that the Taliban chief was captured in Karachi on March 27, 2010.
Omar is wanted by the U.S. for sheltering Osama Bin-Laden and his Al-Qaeda network in the years prior to and after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in America.
He is believed to be leading the Taliban fighters in the war against the Afghan government and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Pakistan had arrested Taliban No. 2 leader Mullah Brather earlier this year from the same city of Karachi.
