ISLAMABAD, 23 August 2004 — Afghan President Hamid Karzai is due to arrive here today for wide-ranging talks with President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat.
The issue of Pakistani nationals detained in Afghan jails is likely to figure during Karzai’s talks with Pakistani leaders, officials said.
During his two-day stay Karzai will also hold talks with Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri on boosting economic ties and increasing cooperation in the war on terror.
“President Karzai will discuss bilateral ties, Afghanistan’s reconstruction and regional and international issues,” Kasuri told reporters.
The matter of Pakistani prisoners detained in Afghan jails will also be on the agenda, Kasuri added.
Afghanistan last month released 66 Pakistani prisoners jailed since the US-led war toppled the hard-line Taleban regime in late 2001. Some 500 Pakistanis have been released in the past year but hundreds more are believed to be still behind bars in the war-torn nation.
