Pakistan pushed for peace in Afghanistan

Monday, January 24 8:17 PM SGT

ISLAMABAD, Jan 24 (AFP) - Pakistan's Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar Monday pressed his Afghan Taliban counterpart Wakil Ahamd Mutawakel to bring peace to war-torn Afghanistan.

Mutawakel is on a three-day visit to Pakistan, the first since army chief General Pervez Musharraf seized power here in a coup in October.

The talks focussed on the situation in Afghanistan, which has been gripped by war for 20 years, and relations with Pakistan, the Taliban's biggest supporter, a Pakistan foreign ministry statement said.

Sattar also discussed Musharraf's visit to Iran, an opponent of the Taliban.

"The foreign minister (Sattar) emphasized the need to take urgent measures for the establishment of peace in Afghanistan through dialogue and reconciliation," the statement said.

Since seizing Kabul in September 1996 the Taliban have been fighting a bitter war against opposition forces in the country's northeast.

Mutawakel said he hoped for new proposals for peace from the new head of the United Nations special mission in Afghanistan.

Francesc Vendrell, newly appointed, will visit within three weeks, Mutawakel told a news conference.

"We will see if he has new proposals or ideas," said the bearded Mutawakel, who wore a white Turban.

Asked about the possibility of a broader Afghan government including opposition forces, Mutawakel said there was no question but that the Taliban's supreme leader Mulla Mohammad Omar must remain head of state.

"We are not going to discuss the head of the government and as for the rest it needs talks with the opposition. Everything could be discussed during the talks with the opposition," he said.

The two men also discussed transit trade, cross-border smuggling, drug trafficking and economic cooperation.

Pakistan has traditionally provided vital transit facilities for imports by landlocked Afghanistan. The two sides have recently engaged in talks aimed at ironing out difficulties in the arrangement.

Mutawakel said he had hoped to hold talks during his visit here with Iranian officials but said it had not been possible.

"We are optimistic that we will be meeting them in the future," he said.

Pakistan and Iran agreed to coordinate efforts on promoting peace between the warring Afghan sides when Musharraf visited Tehran in early December.

Relations between the Taliban and Tehran have meanwhile shown improvement after several years of mutual tension.

Iran recently reopened trade across their common border to help ease an acute food crisis in Afghanistan, and an Iranian delegation last week made the country's first official visit to Kabul in four years.

The Taliban minister said the most pressing issue in the world now was the Chechen crisis.

The Taliban regime, itself recognised by only three countries in the world, was the first to open diplomatic relations with the Chechen rebels.

Mutawakel said the Taliban would consider giving further aid in the future, although he refused to be specific.

Asked if the Taliban would supply troops or military aid to the Chechen fighters, he said: "Maybe we will sign an accord but I don't know whether it will consist of these things or not."

Only Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates recognize Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

Iran and the rest of the international community still recognises ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Mutawakel defended his regime's record on human rights and said the Taliban were opposed to drug trafficking. Afghanistan now ranks as the world's largest opium producer.

Mutawakel said the Taliban did not oppose education for women, despite the intense criticism from the west of the Taliban's restrictions on women.

"We have said we are facing a lack of resources so that we can't have active education for women," he said. "But we want education for women."