Pakistan trashes Afghan allegations on Rabbani killing

Pakistan today described as "false and baseless" the Afghan government's allegation that it had evidence of former president Burhanuddin Rabbani's assassination being planned on the outskirts of Quetta where key Taliban leaders are based.

Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan made the remarks while talking to reporters on the sidelines of an official function in Islamabad.

"The Afghan allegations that Pakistan is behind the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani are totally unfounded and baseless," she said.

She said all allegations levelled by certain countries against Pakistan in the past had proved to be wrong and the fresh allegations too would "meet the same fate".

The Foreign Office and other departments are examining the issue and will soon give a formal reply that would be shared with the media, she said.

Pakistan is using all its energies to fight terrorism to ensure durable peace in the region, she said.

Earlier in the day, Afghanistan's intelligence service said it had given Pakistan "strong evidence" that Rabbani's assassination was planned in the southern outskirts of Quetta where key Taliban leaders are based.

Lutifullah Mashal, a spokeserson for the Afghan intelligence service, told a news conference in Kabul: "The place where Professor Rabbani's killing was planned is a town called Satellite near Quetta, Pakistan... The key person involved in the assassination of Rabbani has been arrested and he has provided lots of strong evidence about where and how it was planned".

"We have given all that evidence to the Pakistan Embassy. The documents handed over by Afghan intelligence to the Pakistan Embassy include the address, photographs and a layout of a house in Satellite where the plot was allegedly hatched," Mashal said.

The Pakistanis had been provided names of individuals who discussed Rabbani's assassination at the house in Satellite, he said.

Information Minister Awan said a recent meeting of Pakistan's political parties that was convened by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had adopted a resolution that said Pakistan does not want confrontation with any country.

Pakistan wants friendly relations with its neighbours and desires to live with peace based on mutual respect and equality, she said.