Has Muttawakil defected from the Taliban?

doha: the taliban militia's foreign minister wakil ahmed muttawakil arrived in the united arab emirates late sunday night, seeking to push islamic countries to mediate with the us, an arab television station said on monday. but the official uae news agency wam reported that muttawakil went to islamabad on sunday and may have defected. a report from islamabad quoted the taliban denying reports that muttawakil had left the country.the militia also said omar was still alive. reports of muttawakil's defection were ''baseless, concocted and sheer lies,'' mohammad tayyab aghal, a spokesman for omar told the pakistan-based afghan islamic press. (agencies)