AL QUDS, Feb 6: Senior Israeli foreign ministry officials held talks over the weekend in London with counterparts from Afghanistan about providing economic assistance to Kabul, a newspaper reported on Monday.

According to the Maariv daily, Foreign Ministry Director-General Ron Prosor and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni’s bureau chief, Yaki Dayan, arrived in London for a series of routine talks with British officials, and held backroom meetings with senior Afghan diplomats who had been attending an aid summit.

The Israeli officials offered assistance to kick start the Afghan economy which has been devastated by a quarter of a century of conflict, the report added. Israel has never had diplomatic relations with Afghanistan and enjoys ties with only a handful of Muslim countries such as Egypt and Turkey.—AFP