Islamabad And Tehran Believe There Is No Military Way For Settling Armed Conflict In Afghanistan

The armed conflict in Afghanistan cannot be settled by arms, and the only way of restoring peace in the country is by creating a government of broad people's representation and by the warrying Afghan groupings immediately ceasing hostilities. This statement was made at a joint press-conference in Islamabad on Thursday by Abdus Sattar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, and Hassan Roukhani, Secretary of the Supreme Council of National Security of Iran. The Iranian representative noted that "the extremism that exists in Afghanistan is very dangerous." Roukhani also sharply censured the savage destruction by the Taleban of the Buddhist statues. Abdus Sattar noted, for his part, that the "events in Afghanistan overshadow the situation in the region." He said that both Islamabad and Tehran believe that "the situation should be immediately rectified by the reconciliation of the conflicting sides."