PESHAWAR, Oct 24: More meetings between Islamabad and former Afghan king Zahir Shah’s emissaries are expected in the near future, according to sources close to both the sides.
“The visiting delegation appeared to be satisfied in terms of their talks with Islamabad as the two sides decided to again meet in the near future,” said the sources.
The three-member delegation sent by the former Afghan monarch — including former Afghan foreign minister Hedayat Amin Arsala, Haji Abdul Khaliq Farahi and Rahim Sherozy — had held separate meetings with President Musharraf and foreign minister Abdul Sattar on Oct 15.
Sources said that the delegation would visit Pakistan again in the near future to “convey the former king’s response to suggestions made by the Pakistani side during the recent talks at Islamabad”.
“The general mood of the members of the visiting delegation reflected that they had had positive talks with the Pakistani authorities,” said the independent sources.
These sources said that though the last week talks ended on a positive note, with both the parties agreeing to continue the process to prepare ground for setting broad-based government in Afghanistan in the post-Taliban situation, still the visiting delegation found the Pakistani side ‘undecided’ over certain important issues.
“They (Pakistan) apparently have not yet found the best horses to bet on,” said the sources while quoting one of the three emissaries of the former Afghan king, who paid visit to Pakistan.
However, said the sources, during the recently held talks between the two sides, Pakistan acknowledged the need for setting up a broad-based government in Afghanistan.
