LONDON, Oct 8: The Northern Alliance called on Pakistan on Monday to stop interfering in Afghan affairs and insisted it should not have a say in the makeup of any post-Taliban government.

“Please leave us alone, we can make our own destiny, our own future, our own government,” Ahmad Wali Masood, envoy for the opposition movement in London, said at a news conference.

“If the government and Pakistani generals continue to meddle in Afghanistan, our tragedy will be prolonged,” said Masood, brother of the Northern Alliance’s former commander Ahmad Shah Masood, who was assassinated last month.

Masood insisted that the alliance represented the spectrum of Afghanistan’s complex ethnic mix, including the Pashtun, the largest ethnic group, who have historically ruled the country.

He warned western governments against granting Pakistan any role in the political future of Afghanistan in return for its support for military strikes against the Taliban.

“Although we highly appreciate the effort of the international community to fight terrorism in Afghanistan... We would appreciate if they would recognize that Pakistan was the prime aggressor in Afghanistan and we should not reward the aggressor.”—Reuters

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