By IRNA,
Islamabad : Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has dismissed as rubbish claim by the US military chief that al-Qaeda chief, Osama bin Laden, is in Pakistan.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, Admiral Mike Mullen, said in Islamabad on Saturday that the al-Qaeda chief is hiding somewhere in Pakistan.
“”I believe Osama is here in Pakistan.”, Mullen told reporters at the American embassy after holding talks with Pakistan’s army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani.
Mullen statement came days after a similar claim was made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she was in Islamabad last week.
Mullen said he supports the statement of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about the presence of Osama bin Laden and other top Al-Qaida leadership in Pakistan.
He, however, said they are hiding in a very secure place and it is very difficult to trace them adding the tribal belt on Pakistan’s western border is the global headquarter for the Al-Qaida terror network.
Qureshi rejected claims by the US top leaders about the presence of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar in Pakistan, saying all that is just rubbish.
“Pakistan wants concrete evidences proving the whereabouts of either Osama or Omer”, he told reporters in the city of Lahore on Saturday.
“If any one claims that Osama Bin Laden or Mullah Omar are hiding in Pakistan, he must also have to produce evidences in front of government of Pakistan,” the Foreign Minister said.
Mullen also called for action against the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network, which he said has been disturbing peace inside Afghanistan.
Terming Haqqani group as “the most lethal network” faced by the US-led international force in Afghanistan, he said he had repeatedly urged Pakistan to tackle the threat. He said Pakistani forces are aware of the threat of Haqqani group.
Admiral Mullen said the US has its own system of tracking the movement of the terrorist across the Pak-Afghan border and focus on the safe havens of terrorists.