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Pakistani President Confirms Closure of Taliban Consulate in Karachi |
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Pakistani President Perzez Musharraf Thursday confirmed in Paris that Pakistan has closed the consulate of the Taliban in Karachi. "The consulate of Taliban in Karachi -- Pakistan's largest industrial city and port -- is closed now", said Musharraf at a press conference.
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Visiting Pakistani President Perzez Musharraf Thursday confirmed that Pakistan has closed the consulate of the Taliban in Karachi.
The consulate of Taliban in Karachi -- Pakistan's largest industrial city and port -- is closed now, said Musharraf at a press conference on his first visit to Paris.
The Taliban's other offices of representation remain open, he said.
The Pakistani president also said that the meetings with his French counterpart Jacques Chirac on Wednesday evening and with French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin on Thursday morning were "very constructive and very productive."
"Pakistan and France share exactly the same positions on many issues," he said.
Musharraf arrived in Paris on Wednesday afternoon for his first visit to France since he came into power two years ago. He left for London on Thursday afternoon.
Taliban Consulate Closed in Karachi The Afghan Taliban chief representative to Islamabad, Mulla Abdul Salam Zaeef, on Thursday confirmed Pakistan's order to shut down the Taliban consulate in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.
"Pakistan has mentioned security reasons for the decision," the Taliban official was quoted by an independent news service NNI as saying.
Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan said at a daily press briefing that Pakistan had asked the Afghan Embassy to withdraw personnel from its consulate in Karachi.
The spokesman, however, said the Taliban mission in Islamabad and Taliban consulates in Quetta and Peshawar are still functioning.
"We are going to close the consulate within a couple of days," said Zaeef.
The Pakistani government had earlier barred the Taliban envoy from holding news conferences in Islamabad.
Pakistan says the Taliban envoy was asked to observe the third country rule relating to statements against a third country utilizing the diplomatic status on the Pakistani soil.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said in Paris after talks with French leaders the Karachi consulate was "not serving any purpose" and was "even having negative effect".
Pakistan was the first country to recognize the Taliban regime and is now the last country to have maintained "diplomatic relations" with the Taliban authorities.
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