Bangladesh has set up a three-member special tribunal for the trial of "war criminals" accused of genocide and those who sided with the Pakistani military during the 'Liberation War'.
Pakistan today said it "will not interfere" in the controversial trial of "war criminals" linked to the 1971 'Liberation struggle' in Bangladesh, saying it was an "internal affairs" of the country.
Bangladesh has set up a three-member special tribunal for the trial of "war criminals" accused of genocide and those who sided with the Pakistani military during the 'Liberation War'.
"It is absolutely the internal affairs of the Bangladesh... Bangladesh is a sovereign country. Pakistan believes in its sovereignty. So, it will not interfere into these internal affairs of Bangladesh," said Ashraf Qureshi, the Pakistani high commissioner in Dhaka.
Qureshi said Islamabad will not launch any campaign against the legal initiative.
Bangladesh law minister Shafique Ahmed, who met Qureshi, said this was "a change in position" on the part of Islamabad, since Qureshi, on his arrival here some months ago, had called the trial an 'internal' affair but had regretted the move.
"I assume after talks with the Pakistani high commissioner that they have shifted from their earlier stance” on the trial issue, Ahmed said.
The high commissioner rejected allegations that it was carrying out an international campaign against the legal process.
Pakistan has argued that a tripartite treaty between Dhaka, New Delhi and Islamabad had resolved the 1971 "war crime" issue.
Qureshi declined to call it a trial of “war criminals” when asked if his country would handover the 195 Pakistani army officers accused to face the trial if demanded by Bangladesh.
"The matter of war criminals was resolved under the (1972) tripartite agreement" between Bangladesh, India and Pakistan that cleared the way for return of some 93,000 Pakistani troops, he said.
Ahmed and foreign minister Dipu Moni earlier had said that "other than Pakistan" no foreign country was opposed to the trial under the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973.
According to official figures, Pakistani troops, aided by local collaborators, killed an estimated three million people, raped about 2,00,000 women and forced millions more to leave their homes during the bloody nine-month guerrilla war.
On March 26, 1971, Bangladesh - then East Pakistan - declared its independence from West Pakistan.
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