Killers of Iranian nationals to be punished: CE

TEHRAN: Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said close cooperation between Iran and Pakistan will help settle the crisis in Afghanistan. Khamenei, in a meeting with Chief Executive General Pervaiz Musharraf, said instability in Afghanistan would be detrimental to all the regional nations. "The regional states should help solve the Afghan crisis without intending to interfere in the internal affairs of the war-hit country," IRNA quoted Khamenei as saying in meeting with Chief Executive General Pervaiz Musharraf. He expressed the hope that the problems facing Iranians in Pakistan be settled soon. Stressing the need for boosting Tehran-Islamabad ties, Musharraf said his country would use every possible means to settle the crisis in Afghanistan. "The only solution to the Afghan problem is halting the civil war and sitting round the negotiations table," he said. He said that the agents behind the murders of the Iranians in Pakistan would be punished severely. Earlier, Khamenei in his meeting with the ousted Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, regretted the continuation of the sufferings of the Afghan people. He called for a solution to alleviate the sufferings of the war-torn nation and put an end to the war and bloodshed. Rabbani commented on the latest development in Afghanistan in particular this year's severe drought in the country. He further thanked Iran for its humanitarian aid to the war-shattered Afghanistan.