Pakistani Diplomat: Pakistan Not To Sever Diplomatic Relations With Taliban Regime

The Pakistani decision to close the Taliban Consulate General in Karachi does not imply the severing of diplomatic relations with the Taliban movement, Ghulam Bajwa, the press secretary of the Pakistani Embassy in Russia, was quoted as saying. According to him, officers of the Consulate were involved in the non-diplomatic activities. "They were organising anti-American protest actions in Pakistani towns, as well as ones targeted against the policies of the Pakistani government," the diplomat said. He stressed that Islamabad had established diplomatic relations with the Taliban "before this movement became an extremist organisation." These relations are currently being maintained only for the purpose of mediating between the international anti-terrorist forces and the Taliban movement, and also to maintain contacts with the moderate Taliban, stated the spokesman for the Pakistani Embassy in Moscow.