Pak-Iran joint team second trip to Afghanistan soon

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iranian officials will pay their second trip to Afghanistan in the couple of days as part of shuttle diplomacy, launched by the two countries earlier this month, sources said yesterday.

"Pakistan and Iranian officials agreed in the recent talks in Tehran to send the two-member joint team to Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif after the visits of special envoys to the headquarters of Taliban and opposition alliance," the sources confided to NNI.

Iftikhar Murshid, Pakistan's envoy on Afghanistan visited Kandahar on July 14 and Iranian envoy Alaeddin Boroujerdi made trip to Kandahar on July 16 under the understanding reached between the two sides in Tehran.

Murshid met Taliban's supreme leader Mulla Omar, Governor Kandahar Mulla Hasan Rehmani and Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Mulla Jalil and briefed them about his talks with Iranian leaders.

Boroujerdi met the ousted President Burhanuddin Rabbani, Gulbaddin Hekmatyar and several other opposition leaders in Mazar-e-Sharif and apprised them of Pak-Iran's consultations in Tehran.

Pakistani envoy on Afghanistan visited Iran in the second week of this moth and held high level consultations with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi and Iranian envoy on Afghanistan Alaeddin Boroujerdi on Afghan turmoil. The consultations were follow up of the Pak-Iran joint team visit to Mazar-e-Sharif and Kandahar on June 30 and July 1st and held talks with leaders of the Afghan opposition Northern Alliance and Taliban.

Ayaz Wazir, Director Afghanistan in Pakistan's Foreign Ministry and Mohiuddin Najafi, Iran's former ambassador to Afghanistan will travel to the strongholds of the Islamic militia and opposition alliance shortly, which will be the second in one month.--NNI