Gilani Agrees there’s No Difference between ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Taliban

In what could be seen as a delayed agreement with Indian point of view, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that his government believes that there’s no distinction between a good and a bad Taliban, said media reports.

“Whosoever are the militants, we hardly discriminate between the good Taliban and the bad Taliban,” Gilani was quoted as saying in an interview with CNN.

“Whoever are the militants, it is our commitment, it is our resolve and we have to take on those evil forces from our country. Therefore talking about al-Qaeda, we do not see any short of those concerns in Pakistan. If there is any actionable intelligence or credible information we are ready to share with the US,” Gilani was quoted as saying.

In response to a query, the prime minister said that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was no longer in Pakistan and might have been dead, reports said.

“I do not know (where Osama bin Laden is). Certainly he is not in Pakistan and I do not know where he is,” he was quoted as saying. “If there would have been any chance, he would have been arrested. May be, I do not know, even if he is alive or not,” Gilani said in response to a question.

Gilani also said that the recent military offensive against Taliban in the Swat Valley and other parts of the country were very successful, said reports.

He said that the nuclear weapons programme of his country is not directed against any country, reports said.

“No, we are not competing with anybody. We really want to confine ourselves to minimum deterrence. That’s it,” he was quoted as saying when asked if the Pak nuclear weapons programme is targeted at India and is competing with it.

He ‘denied’ such media reports appearing in a US newspaper.

Gilani also ‘denied’ another media report in a US daily that the ISI still has links with the Taliban, Al Qaeda and other extremist elements.

“In fact, we are having excellent cooperation, in the field of intelligence and defence between the US and Pakistan, and we have jointly and even separately had identified the targets, we got them arrested and now facing the courts,” he was quoted as saying.