Security top issue in talks with China

China is to take up the matter of the security of its citizens with a high-level Pakistan team. Seven Chinese nationals had been kidnapped by students of the Lal Masjid madrasas on Friday for “un-Islamic” acts.

This, and China’s concern about Islamists rebels finding a haven in the restive tribal areas of Pakistan are likely to dominate the four-day Pak-China talks that began in Beijing today.

A Pakistani team headed by Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao flew to Beijing on Sunday. The visit, which had been put off when Chinese nationals were kidnapped, was approved following the release of those abducted.