Afghan Team To Visit Pakistan For Probe Of Rabbani Assassination

Burhanuddin Rabbani

A spokesman for the Afghan president says Afghanistan is sending an official delegation to Pakistan to investigate the killing of Kabul peace envoy and former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Spokesman Aimal Faizi says Pakistan has agreed to accept the delegation, including officials from Kabul's Defense and Interior ministries and its intelligence service.

The team could leave for Islamabad as soon as November 22.

The Afghan team's visit was confirmed by Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua, who told AFP news agency that a date was being worked out.

Rabbani's assassination at his Kabul home in September by a turban bomber has stalled efforts to talk peace with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Afghan officials say the killing was planned in Pakistan and carried out by a Pakistani suicide bomber.

Pakistan initially refused to cooperate in the probe. But Islamabad agreed to accept the Kabul delegation after pressure from Afghan and Turkish officials at a conference in Istanbul earlier this month.

compiled from agency reports