BERLIN, March 31: Foreign inister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said on Wednesday that Pakistan had an abiding and profound interest in early return of stability in Afghanistan. He was speaking at the international conference on Afghanistan here.

Mr Kasuri said Pakistan's relations with Afghanistan were determined by common history and geography and it earnestly desired that the international border between the two countries worked to the mutual advantage of both the countries.

The foreign minister said that Pakistan would not allow the use of its soil for acts of terrorism in Afghanistan and elsewhere. He said that Pakistani armed forces on the border have been engaged in eliminating remnants of Al Qaeda and Taliban. Recent operations were a testimony to Pakistan's resolve and determination to root out terrorism.

The minister welcomed the decision by President Karzai to hold presidential and parliamentary election in September 2004. Mr Kasuri expressed the hope that the process of registration of voters would reflect accurately the ethnic and regional balance of Afghanistan's population.

He said that Pakistan expected that the Afghan refugees living in Pakistan and Iran would be registered and allowed to participate in the forthcoming Afghan elections, which would confer legitimacy and credibility to the election process.

He said Pakistan would extend full cooperation to the Afghan authorities and UNAMA in this regard. Mr Kasuri also announced an allocation of $5 million from Pakistan's assistance for reconstruction of Afghanistan in this regard.

Afghanistan, he said, had reached a critical stage in which the challenges of security, organizing the elections and its long-term socio-economic reconstruction needed further support from the international community. -APP