By Our Correspondent. Dawn
Internet Edition. November 2, 2000
ISLAMABAD, Nov 1: The deputy foreign minister of Cuba, Jose Armando Guerra
Menchero has said the freedom struggle of Kashmiris should not be termed as a
'terrorism'.
Speaking to newsmen after a talk on "Present day Cuba: internal
situation and its stand on international affairs" held here at Institute of
Strategic Studies on Wednesday, he said, "US and any other power has no
right to malign freedom struggle of Kashmiris by terming it as terrorism."
Criticizing the practice of some western countries backed by the United
States, the Cuban deputy foreign minister said there must be credible evidence
before labelling any group as terrorists.
Citing the example of Osama bin Ladin, he said, "I have yet to see an
article of Osama bin Ladin in which one gets even a hint of his backing up
terrorism," he added.
On the other hand, it was the United States which trained terrorists in
special CIA training institutes to make more than 600 assassination attempts on
the life of the Cuban president, the Cuban deputy foreign minister said.
To a query about Kashmir, Mr Menchero said the large part of Kashmiri
population are Muslims who either want to join Pakistan or exercise the option
of independence.
In response to a question about his recent visit to the Middle East, he said
the Cubans have always expressed solidarity with the Arabs and the Palestinians.
"Cuba opposes aggression and has no diplomatic relations with Israel, since
Israel is an agent of the United States. Cuba has a principled stance on the
simple issue of the rights of the Palestinians," he added
The Cuban minister said the problems of the Middle East cannot be solved
through biblical understandings of the issues.
Earlier in his talk on "Present-day Cuba," the deputy foreign
minister said the hardest period for Cuba since the revolution in 1959 was the
phase of "double blockade" from 1990s till the year 2000.
After the demise of the USSR, the socialist aid to Cuba was curtailed while
the US imposed a blockade which resulted in tremendous hardships for the Cubans
which have now been overcome, he said.
The deputy foreign minister while appreciating the excellent relations
between Cuba and Pakistan said since the beginning of the revolt in 1959, both
countries have been supporting each other on international forums. "I held
meetings with the officials in the ministry of science and technology and
exploredways and means of exchanging expertise in the field of biotechnology,"
Mr Menchero added.
There are a number of other fields related to agriculture and trade in which
scope for expanding Pak-Cuba bilateral relations exist, he said.
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