He was commending on a recent statement by Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal that Riyadh has halted its mediation efforts in Afghanistan. "It is too early to make comment on our stand on reports of Saudi Arabia halting mediation between the Afghan government and the Taleban," he said.
He defended his country accepting handouts from Iran, saying the money had been given "transparently." There were reports that Tehran had been sending the government in Kabul hundreds of thousands of euros in a scheme to increase influence with its neighbor.
"There was no attempt to hide the money which was given to help strengthen certain Afghan institutions," Rassoul said. "The issue was given much more attention than it deserved," he added.
Rassoul also said that Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was not in Afghanistan, emphasizing that if he were present in the country he "would have been found."
