PESHAWAR, May 6: Pakistan is all set to begin Peshawar-Jalalabad bus service by May 15, says Director Transport NWFP, Sajid Khan Jadoon.

The service — scheduled to begin on April 15—had been delayed by a month, he said on Saturday.

Mr Jadoon said that while Pakistan had completed documentation for initiating the bus service, Afghanistan had not yet completed formalities.

He said that the Pakistan Foreign Office had sent a letter to the Afghan government and assured cooperation in finalising the arrangements.

Mr Jadoon said that Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani would inaugurate the service.

He said that Joint Secretary of the federal Ministry of Communication Firdous Alam, who was currently in the UK, would sign the route permit on Monday after his return on Sunday.

The permit would then be sent to Afghanistan for endorsement by relevant officials there.

He also cited the death of the uncle of the NWFP chief minister as a reason of the delay.

Meanwhile, officials of the transport company whose buses would run on the Jalalabad-Peshawar route said that they were ready to run buses any time for the past three months.

They hoped that they would get the required permission from the government by Monday, adding that the government had promised to set up a permanent bus stand near the Karkhano market.

They said that both sides would run six buses each and the government had fixed a one-way fare of Rs300.

They said that the Khyber Khasadars would escort the bus from Peshawar to the Torkham border while Afghan security forces would be responsible for the security of passengers on the other side.