Pak now blames Taliban for violence

When asked about Interior Minister Choudhury Shujaat Hussain8217;s statement that RAW was behind the killings, Sharif, brother of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said RAW8217;s involvement could not be ruled out but 8220;the terrorists are coming from another neighbouring country,8221; Urdu daily Jung reported.

Meanwhile, a special emissary of Nawaz Sharif has reached Kandahar with a message asking Taliban supremo Mullah Mohammed Omar to close down all terrorist training camps inAfghanistan and hand over nearly 150 Pakistani terrorists to Islamabad, English daily The News said, quoting official sources.

8220;Mullah Mohammed Omar has assured Pakistan that he will personally look into this matter and no one will be allowed to use Afghan soil for sponsoring any kind of terrorist activities inside Pakistan8221; the report sent by the special emissary to the Prime Minsiter revealed, The News reported.

The News report said that the Taliban leader assured Pakistani authorities of closing down terrorist training camps within ten days and that the Pakistanis under training would be handed over to Islamabad.

A spurt in sectarian killings across Pakistan last week left 35 people, mostly Shiite Muslims, dead within a span of five days.

Interior Minister Choudhury Shujaat Hussain had on Monday alleged that the RAW was carrying out these killings to block the ongoing process of normalisation of relations between Pakistan and Iran.

Former Cabinet Minister and PrimeMinister8217;s adviser on Sindh affairs Ghaus Ali Shah even went to the extent of saying that RAW and the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad were working together to create such a situation in Pakistan.

Nawaz Sharif8217;s special emissary, who heads a top intelligence agency, had conveyed three specific messages to the Taliban leadership, the paper said.

The messages related to Pakistan8217;s concern over the functioning of terrorist training camps inside Afghanistan, the arrest and handing over of terrorists Riaz Basra and Saifullah Akhtar, besides around 150 other Pakistani nationals, and closure of the training camps.

Shujaat Hussain, apparently turning his focus to Afghanistan, told Iranian news agency IRNA that terrorism had entered Pakistan from Afghanistan, The News said.

The Punjab cabinet after a meeting on Wednesday expressed concern over the infiltration of terrorists from Afghanistan and asked the federal government to check their movement.