Islamabad: Continuing with the volley of flip-flop statements in the run-up to talks with India, Pakistan's Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat on May 20 denied earlier statements on banning Hizbul Mujahideen but said restrictions had been imposed on its activities.

Hayat, who was earlier quoted in the media as saying the group was banned, "clarified" during the course of the day that it was included in the list of seven militant outfits that have been proscribed in the aftermath of September 2001 attacks on US.

"We cannot ban Hizbul Mujahideen. The ban cannot be applicable because it is not a Pakistan-based organisation," Hayat told the private TV channel Geo News after chairing a high-level official meeting to review law and order in the country.

He said, "They (Hizb) are not allowed to regroup as a militant force obviously. Use of militancy is totally out of question. We will not allow them to use our soil to propagate any damaging propaganda or physical activity which could endanger the life or pose a security threat to Pakistan or any of its neighbours."

"They would not be allowed to open offices, organise rallies and carry weapons," Hayat said, adding however that the ban on Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad would continue and its leaders would not be allowed to go to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

PTI