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Afghan President Urges Iran to Help Avoid Human Disaster
Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani called on Iran Thursday to do what it can to prevent a human catastrophe in Afghanistan in view of possible reprisals by Washington for recent terror attacks on the U.S..
During a telephone conversation with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, Rabbani condemned the September 11 airborne assaults in New York and Washington, which have left about 7,000 people missing or dead, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported.
But, meanwhile, he stressed that "any hasty actions" against Afghanistan will jeopardize the country and the entire region.
The U.S., which has accused Osama bin Laden of masterminding the terror attacks, has vowed to bring him to justice "dead or live" and to launch retaliatory strikes against Afghanistan's Taliban regime, which harbors him.
Khatami reiterated condemnation of the terror attacks, which he hoped would not bring adverse consequences and disaster to the war- stricken Afghan people.
"First of all, Iran seeks evidence to indicate who are the real criminals in the terror attacks and secondly, lobbies for not launching an aggression on the war-ravaged Afghan people," Khatami was quoted by IRNA as saying.
The Afghan government headed by Rabbani was ousted in 1996 by the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban militia, who are now controlling more than 90 percent of the country's territories.
War is continuing between the Taliban and the opposition Northern Alliance led by Rabbani, who enjoyed Iran's support during the past years.
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