Mullah Baradar won't be handed over to anyone: Pakistan

Pakistan today ruled out the possibility of handing over key Taliban commander Mullah Baradar to Afghanistan but said the Afghan High Peace Council was welcome to visit the country and meet him.
"We are saying the High Peace Council can meet him. They are most welcome if they want to meet him," said Tariq Fatemi, the Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs.
"We will not hand over (Baradar) to anyone. He is free to go wherever and whenever. We are not going to catch hold of someone and take him from one place to the other," he told reporters on the sidelines of an official function here.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants Pakistan to encourage the Taliban to holds talk with the High Peace Council and "we are ready to take all steps for helping the reconciliation process", Fatemi said.
Baradar was freed from Pakistani custody in September as part of efforts to boost the stalled peace process in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has so far released 34 Afghan Taliban commanders to boost reconciliation but the move has not produced the expected results, analysts say. The Afghan government is upset the commanders were not handed over to it by Pakistan.
Fatemi said Baradar was released after Karzai made an "express request" when he visited Islamabad earlier this year.

Karzai's office said in a statement today that Pakistan had agreed to allow the High Peace Council to meet Baradar. A decision in this regard was made when Karzai held talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in London yesterday.