Chastened Pakistan orders freezing of Osama assets
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Islamabad, Jan 21: Pakistan has ordered immediate closure of all offices of Taliban militia and Afghan Airlines Ariana besides freezing assets of Saudi terrorist Osmana bin Laden in compliance with UN sanctions against Afghanistan, media reports said here today.

The Ministry for Interior and Tribal Affairs had issued a directive to all provinces conveying the Foreign Ministry’s request that all offices of Taliban and Ariana be closed down and bin Laden’s funds frozen, the news said.

"We have received instructions from the Federal Government and orders have been passed on to the respective government departments to implement them," it quoted a senior official as saying.

The UN sanctions came into effect on January 19 at the end of a one-month Security Council deadline to the militia to hand over bin Laden. Pakistan foreign office spokesman Riaz Mohemmed Khan had said yesterday that Pakistan would not close its borders with Afghanistan but would comply with UN resolutions imposing sanctions.

Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.