(MENAFN- Tribal News Network) PESHAWAR: Pakistan has rejected the Afghan government claims about a market in Peshawar and expressed concern over the closure of Afghan Consulate in Peshawar over an issue which is between a citizen and a bank.
'The recent enforcement action by the local administration occurred after legal remedies were exhausted by the Afghan party to this legal dispute. We reject any comments casting aspersions on the judicial process in Pakistan,' said the Foreign Office in a statement on Saturday.
The Foreign Office said that the issue was between a private citizen and a bank from Afghanistan and that the court's verdict on the case in question had been decided in the citizen's favour in 1998.
Pakistan also regretted the closure of Afghan Consulate in Peshawar and hoped that the decision would be reviewed by the Afghan government.
"We hope that a private legal case would not be allowed to adversely affect the relations between the two brotherly countries," the Foreign Office statement concluded.
On Friday, Afghanistan closed its consulate in Peshawar over the dispute pertaining to ownership of Afghan market which is situated near Jinnah Park in Peshawar. The Afghan National Bank had been collecting more than Rs1.5 million as rent from tenants per month through its manager for the last many years.
Afghan Consul General Mohammad Hashim Niazi claimed that Afghan flag was removed from the market owned by Afghanistan. He alleged that the shopkeepers in the market were also tortured after which they closed the consulate. The Afghan consul general said Pakistan must find a solution to the problem by using diplomatic channels.
A Pakistani citizen, Syed Zawar Hussain claims ownership of Afghan market in Peshawar. The Supreme Court of Pakistan has also decided in favour of Zawar Hussain. On the other hand, the Afghan Consulate in Peshawar claims that the Afghan government owns the market.
Complying the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Tuesday started action to hand over the market to Zawar Hussain, who had won the case of ownership. However, the shopkeepers of the market and Afghan Consulate staged protest over the action.
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