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Pakistan admits to Taleban spies Pakistan denies Kabul bomb link
(about 1 hour later)
Pakistan's government has said it needs to purge Taleban sympathisers from within the ranks of the country's intelligence service - the ISI. Pakistan's government has denied that its spy service, the ISI, was involved in last month's bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul.
The statement comes amid claims from the US and India of links between the ISI and Islamic extremists. Government spokeswoman Sherry Rehman was responding to media reports that Taleban sympathisers within the ISI had helped in the deadly attack.
Analysts say it is the first time that the Pakistan government has made such an admission. She also said there would be no purge of the ISI.
US officials have claimed that spies in the ISI helped plan the recent suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul. This appeared to directly contradict an earlier statement which she made to the AP news agency.
Pakistani government spokeswoman Sherry Rehman said "individuals" in the ISI were probably acting on their own and going against official policy. Ms Rehman was quoted as saying: "Years of backing an anti-Soviet jihad has left its mark. There are probably still individuals within the ISI who are ideologically sympathetic to the Taleban and act on their own in ways that are not in convergence with the policies and interests of the government of Pakistan.
She said Pakistan needed to "identify these people and weed them out". "We need to identify these people and weed them out."
Supporting militants However, speaking shortly afterwards to the BBC Urdu service, she said: "There is no question of any purge in the ISI.
The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan, in Islamabad, says it is the first time a member of the Pakistan government has talked about the ISI in this manner. "The government has already stated that there are no links or evidence of ISI involvement in the Kabul bombing. It was in the past during the Soviet jihad that a few pro-Taleban elements had found their way in, and with the change in policy have been firmly been rooted out."
In the past, President Pervez Musharraf has said that former intelligence officials - including those from the ISI - have given support to militants but he was careful to stress that they did not include serving personnel, our correspondent says.
Ms Rehman said there was no proof of ISI involvement in last month's bombing of India's embassy in Kabul.
US officials had made the allegations - based on intercepted communications - in briefings to the New York Times and the Washington Post.
The BBC contacted Pakistan's army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas but he would not respond to Ms Rehman's comments.The BBC contacted Pakistan's army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas but he would not respond to Ms Rehman's comments.
The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Karachi says that on several occasions in recent weeks Pakistan's civilian government has embarrassed itself by issuing important orders and statements that it has had to retract within hours.
Last Saturday night it said the ISI would be brought under the control of the interior ministry.
But the decision was revoked within hours, apparently following intervention from the army.
US allegations
US officials had claimed that spies in the ISI had helped plan the suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul.
The allegations - reportedly based on intercepted communications - were made in briefings to the New York Times and the Washington Post.
The New York Times reported that a senior CIA official had visited Pakistan last month to confront Islamabad over links between the ISI and Islamic extremists.