KABUL, May 12: Afghanistan's parliament voted to sack the war-torn country's foreign minister on Saturday amid an uproar over Iran’s forced return of thousands of refugees.

Foreign minister Mr Rangeen Dadfar Spanta lost a no-confidence vote by a large majority in a second round of voting, after the first round on Thursday had hinged on a single spoilt ballot.

Refugees Affairs Minister Mr Akbar Akbar lost his job in Thursday’s vote.

Mr Spanta was accused of not doing enough to persuade Iran to ease its policy of forced repatriation, while Mr Akbar allegedly failed to help accommodate thousands of refugees forced out by Iran.

Nearly two million Afghans are still living as refugees in Iran — more than half of them illegally — despite millions of Afghans having returned from Iran and Pakistan after the toppling of the Taliban in late 2001. Another two million Afghans are living in Pakistan, according to the UN.

Iran says it wants the illegal Afghans out of its country by March 2008.—AFP