Pakistan gov't 'won't negotiate with terrorists' in new counter-terror policy

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Monday that Pakistan's new government will not negotiate with "terrorists" even as it seeks talks with some militant groups. Qureshi also said the detention of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the scientist disgraced for passing nuclear secrets to countries including Iran, should be eased - but ruled out letting foreign investigators question him. Opponents of President Pervez Musharraf have formed a coalition government that has vowed to review Pakistan's US-backed policies on fighting al-Qaida and the Taliban. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has offered talks to Pakistani militants ready to renounce violence. But in remarks that could ease concern in the West that Pakistan might go soft on al-Qaida, Qureshi said the new government would be "equally firm in our resolve to fight terrorism."