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Iran Favors Earlier Solution of Afghan Crisis: Khatami
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has expressed his country's hope for an earlier solution to the Afghan crisis so that peace and stability could be realized in the region, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported on Saturday.
Iran hopes that efforts of international organizations as well as regional countries will lead to a political solution to the Afghan crisis as soon as possible, Khatami said on Friday in a meeting with visiting Pakistani Chief Executive Pervez Musharraf.
"A turbulent and war-ravaged Afghanistan is not to the benefit of any regional country and certainly not in the interest of any of its neighbors," the president stressed.
Afghanistan's Muslim factions have been engaged in a bloody civil war since 1992 after the former pro-Soviet government was toppled.
In 1996, President Burhanuddin Rabbani's government was ousted by the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban militia, who is now controlling more than 90 percent of the country's territory.
Military clashes are still continuing between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance opposition headed by Rabbani.
Iran and Pakistan, both neighbors of Afghanistan, have sided with different political factions in the country, with Tehran supporting Rabbani and Islamabad backing the current Taliban government in Kabul.
General Musharraf arrived here Friday for the two-day summit of the 10-member Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) which started here Saturday.
The ECO was founded by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey in 1985 and later joined by Afghanistan as well as Central Asian and Caucasian republics of Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.
In their meeting Friday, both Khatami and Musharraf expressed their willingness to enhance bilateral ties in all fields. They also stressed the need to promote regional cooperation as well as removing misunderstandings and tensions.
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