Pak 'militarism' in Afghanistan doomed to failure: Rafsanjani

The News: Jang

TEHRAN: Iran hopes that Pakistan will soon return to civilian rule, former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said at Friday prayers here, a day after a visit to the country by General Pervaiz Musharraf.

"We hope military rule in Pakistan will be limited and of short duration and that the country will return to popular government," he told worshippers. Rafsanjani hit out at Pakistan's "militaristic" policy in Afghanistan, saying it was "doomed to failure." "This mistaken military policy is creating tragedies and every day is causing the deaths of innocents in Afghanistan," he said.

Rafsanjani, who is still powerful as the chairman of the Expediency Council -- Iran's top constitutional arbitration body -- said he hoped that "important issues between Iran and Pakistan would be resolved," after Musharraf's two-day visit. Gen Musharraf said at the end of his stay that the two had agreed to coordinate their policies "for encouraging the peace process through reconciliation and dialogue among the Afghan parties."

Islamabad is a major backer of the Taliban militia, which controls most of Afghanistan. Iran supports the ousted Afghan government of Burhanuddin Rabbani and assists the Afghan opposition, especially its Shia component.

Tehran has also criticised Islamabad as a follower of the United States and accused it of not doing enough to stop drug trafficking across their common border. Tehran says the Taliban encourage drug production and smuggling and benefit from it. Since Musharraf's coup on October 12, relations between the two have improved, with Islamabad issuing conciliatory-sounding statements.