ANKARA, April 20: The presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan will visit Ankara on April 29-3O for talks under Turkey's auspices aiming to cool tensions between the two allies in the war against terror, the Turkish presidency confirmed on Friday.
“The summit (between) Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and the visiting presidents will provide an exchange of views on Pakistan-Afghanistan ties and their repercussions on the region,” a statement from Sezer's office said.
“The aim of the meeting is to serve regional stability and security.”
Turkey offered to host the meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai with the two countries at loggerheads in the fight against the Taliban.
Most Afghan officials, including Karzai, blame Pakistan for failing to prevent Taliban-led militants from attacking Afghanistan from their bases in Pakistan's tribal areas along their common border. Some claim Pakistan supports the Taliban.
Islamabad has strongly denied the allegations, saying it has 80,000 troops stationed on the frontier and that pro-government tribesmen recently killed 300 foreign militants in the region.—AFP
