The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Islamabad

A Pakistani spokeswoman conceded Friday that the government needs to root out Taliban sympathizers from its main intelligence agency, but officials rejected allegations that the spies helped plan a bloody bombing at the Indian Embassy in Afghanistan.

Government spokeswoman Sherry Rehman said there are "probably" still individual agents whose ideological convictions were formed in the 1980s, when the ISI intelligence agency marshaled Islamic warriors to battle Soviet troops in Afghanistan with U.S. support.

Such agents "act on their own in ways that are not in convergence" with Pakistan's interests or policies, Rehman said. "We need to identify these people and weed them out." The statement was the first acknowledgment by Pakistan's new government that there may be pro-Taliban operatives in the intelligence service. But in a reflection of the sensitivity of the issue, Rehman later changed her statement to maintain the problems at ISI were in the past.

The conflicting comments will do little to build confidence in the 4-month-old administration's efforts to tackle Islamic extremism - a huge challenge facing Pakistan's first civilian-led government after eight years of military rule under President Pervez Musharraf.

Rehman's initial statement came after mounting U.S. and Indian allegations that ISI operatives are helping militant groups involved in the growing insurgency in Afghanistan.

The New York Times reported Friday that American intelligence agencies concluded ISI agents were involved in the July 7 embassy attack in the Afghan capital, which killed about 60 people.

The Times, citing unidentified U.S. government officials, said the conclusion was based on intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officers and militants who carried out the attack.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq described the report as "total rubbish," insisting there was no evidence linking the ISI to the Kabul bombing.

"The foreign newspapers keep writing such things against ISI, and we reject these allegations," he said.

Afghan leaders have long maintained the ISI is backing the Taliban-led insurgency, and Afghanistan's spy agency accused its Pakistani counterpart in a recent attempt to assassinate Afghan President Hamid Karzai.