KABUL, Feb 10: Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai arrived in the United Arab Emirates Sunday on a fence-mending mission, as authorities questioned the top Taliban official to surrender since the regime’s ouster.

Karzai’s trip to Abu Dhabi is aimed at rebuilding relations with the three countries to have recognized the hardline Taliban regime before the Sept 11 attacks, and follows similar trips to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

He was to meet on Monday with Emirati President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan, and deliver the keynote address at a conference hosted by a UAE think tank, according to conference organizers.

Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said Karzai’s visit to Abu Dhabi was “in line with our policy to expand our relations in the region, beyond the region with the Arab countries, with the Muslim countries.”

Mutawakel cooperating: Meanwhile, former Taliban minister Abdul Wakil Mutawakel was helping authorities as he spent his second full day in US custody in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, local governor Gul Agha told AFP.

“Mutawakel is cooperating with us. He has accepted the present Afghan setup and assured support to the present political process,” Agha said in Quetta.

“We will keep in view if he shows cooperation with interrogators, and he will definitely benefit.”

US forces trying to track down Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda associates believe Mutawakel’s inside knowledge of the ousted hardline Islamic regime could provide valuable leads.

But there were signs of dissent within the administration as to how Mutawakel should be treated, as Agha’s comments about possibly rewarding him for cooperating seemed to contradict those made by Abdullah the previous day.

“(Taliban leaders) created misery for our people,” Abdullah said.

“The world has suffered because of what they did... they deserve justice and to be treated as war criminals because they supported terrorism.”—AFP