Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar is based in Pakistan and everyone knows it, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Tuesday, calling on Islamabad to do more to help end the conflict.
"It's not a secret for anyone, everyone knows that Mullah Omar is in Quetta, if he's not now in Karachi," Kouchner told French lawmakers, referring to two major Pakistani cities known to harbour Islamist militant cells.
Mullah Omar was the leader of the Taliban Islamic regime that was overthrown in Afghanistan by US-led forces in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks and is now thought to be based in Quetta.
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"Taliban leaders have been given shelter in Pakistan. I'm not revealing anything," Kouchner said, telling parliament's foreign relations committee why Afghanistan has called on Pakistan to help negotiate a peace deal.
