Pakistan Said To Be Boycotting Afghan Bonn Conference

Student supporters of Jamaat-e Islami hold a banner and shout anti-American slogans in Peshawar on November 29 during a protest over the NATO air strikes three days earlier.

News agencies are quoting unnamed Pakistani government officials as saying Pakistan will boycott a scheduled international conference on the future of Afghanistan on December 5 to protest a NATO attack on Pakistani military positions last weekend that killed 24 soldiers.

Reports said the decision was made during a session of the cabinet of ministers.

Pakistan's ties with NATO and the U.S. plunged after the November 26 attack, with Islamabad suspending convoys with NATO cargo from entering Afghanistan from Pakistan at two major crossing points.

NATO is investigating the incident but the Pakistani soldiers' deaths have sparked angry protests in Pakistan.

The conference on Afghanistan is due to be held in Bonn, Germany.

compiled from agency reports