Prince Saud will deliver messages to President Pervez Musharraf from Saudi Arabia's King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, he said.
Saud's talks in Islamabad will focus on the situation in Afghanistan and the political future of the country in light of the proposals presented by the Europeans to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Mr Powell and Mr Straw emphasised need for a broad-based government in Afghanistan. Mr Straw said a great deal of thinking was going on about a future administration for Afghanistan, and although it could not be said exactly what form of government would eventually emerge, "we can see the building blocks".
Turkey, as a leading Islamic country of the world and a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), and Bangladesh, which contributes in a big way to international peacekeeping, are expected to be major contributors to a potential peacekeeping force for Afghanistan.
Bush administration is looking at a variety of options to shape the future of Afghanistan with the United Nations, the idea of a multinational peacekeeping force led by Islamic countries has emerged as an important component of the political process that must follow the Taliban's ouster.
The involvement of Bangladesh in Afghanistan with Begum Khalida Zia in saddle in Dhaka would almost certainly revive a long pending move to include Afghanistan as the eight-member of SAARC, a group conceived by her husband. Naturally, such an idea would only succeed if both India and Pakistan give their endorsement, something that will depend on how the new government in Kabul is perceived by both. |
