Summary Afghan President Hamid Karzai says attack on intelligence chief had been planned in Quetta:
ANKARA: Afghan President Hamid Karzai will submit documents and evidence to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari at a meeting in Turkey on Tuesday over the wounding of his intelligence director in a suicide bombing which he says was planned in Pakistan, his spokesman said.
“President Karzai will submit all the documents and evidence in hand to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, which suggest the attack was hatched in Quetta in Pakistan, and follow this up seriously,” said Siamak Herawi, a spokesman for Karzai.
The bomber, who hid explosives inside his underwear and posed as a peace messenger, wounded spy chief Asadullah Khalid last Thursday in a brazen attack that set back a nascent, already fragile reconciliation process.
While the Taliban have claimed responsibility for the bombing, Karzai has said the raid was too sophisticated to have been carried out by the Islamist militant group.
“Bigger hands are involved,” said Herawi, repeating a phrase often used by the Afghan leader after high-profile attacks.
Speaking after the attack, Karzai stopped short of directly blaming the neighbouring country but said he knew “for a fact” the bomber came from Pakistan and that Kabul would seek clarification from Islamabad during meetings in Turkey.
Karzai was to hold talks with Zardari at a trilateral summit hosted by Turkish President Abdullah Gul in Ankara on Tuesday and Wednesday. Foreign ministers and senior officials from both countries will also meet at the summit, the seventh of its kind in Turkey.
Pakistan has said it would assist in any investigation into the bombing, but also urged Karzai to provide evidence before “leveling charges”, and suggested Kabul look into any lapses in its own security arrangements that may have led to the raid.
Turkey, a Nato member that has troops stationed in Afghanistan, has sought to raise its international standing in recent years, playing host to high-level diplomatic events and attempting to act as a broker in conflict resolution.
Turkey’s foreign minister has said he wants its largest city, Istanbul, to be a “UN city”.
A Turkish official said on Monday a special hotline had been set up to allow Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan to communicate better during times of crisis.
