Hundreds of lives and families have been ruined by the violent conflict in Pakistan

Chief Mufti Tomasz Miśkiewicz, who is the leader of Poland’s Muslim community, has called on Islamic extremists and the authorities in Pakistan to open a dialogue.

During a visit to Pakistan, yesterday, he offered his services in mediation talks, which, in his view, should start as soon as possible.

In his remarks for the media, the Chief Mufti of Poland stressed that the events in Pakistan and the actions of the extremists there cast a shadow on the Islamic communities in Europe.

He added that as a result of the activities of the extremists, the Muslims in Europe are sometimes presented in a negative light, adding that this has a negative bearing on their situation in public life.

There have been no comments on the statements of the leader of Polish Muslims from the Pakistani authorities.

In February, two Pakistanis accused of the gruesome beheading of Polish geologist Piotr Stanczak in 2009 walked out of court free men, after being found not guilty by a judge in Rawalpindi.

Stanczak was kidnapped in September 2008 while working as a geologist for a Polish firm in Attock in the dangerous north-west frontier region of Pakistan. The Taliban said they killed the Pole after Pakistani authorities refused to trade the life of Stanczak for prisoners.

Before the execution, the Taliban released a video of Stanczak pleading with the Polish government to withdraw troops from Afghanistan before being beheaded.

Stanczak was posthumously awarded one of Poland’s highest honours, the Order of Polonia Restituta, by President Bronislaw Komorowski in September last year. (km/pg)