Pak PM denies ISI links in Kabul bombing

Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani on Tuesday denied that the country's intelligence service had any involvement in the suicide bombings in Kabul.

Four Indians, including two diplomats and two security personnel, were among 44 killed Monday when a suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden car rammed into the Indian embassy gate in Kabul, the worst terror act in Afghanistan since the Taliban's fall and the first attack on any Indian mission in the world.

Afghani officials alleged the attack could not have succeeded without the support of foreign intelligence agencies in the region, in a thinly veiled charge at Pakistan.

''Why should Pakistan destabilize Afghanistan? It is in our interest to have a stable Afghanistan,'' Gillani said on the sidelines of a summit of developing Muslim nations (D8) in Malaysia's capital.

''And we want stability in the region, as we are also a victim of terrorism and extremism because my own leader, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated,'' official Bernama news agency quoted Gillani as saying.

''She was hit by terrorism. Therefore, it is our firm resolve to fight terrorism and extremism,'' he added.

World leaders condemned Monday's attack which also left more than 140 people injured.

The UN Security Council called for international efforts to bring the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and supporters of the attack to justice.

 

G8 summit: PM meets Hu Jintao, talks crucial

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had a 30-minute meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday morning.

During the meet, Hu condemned the attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul and also thanked India for offering support and relief during the earthquake.

These talks were being viewed as crucial as there is no firm assurance from China on helping India get the IAEA's approval for the nuclear safeguards agreement or a clearance from the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Kabul blast: Foreign hand suspected

A suicide blast at the Indian embassy in Kabul could not have been carried out without the ''full support of foreign intelligence,'' according to an Afghan security report made public on Tuesday.

The report, delivered at an Afghan cabinet meeting following Monday's attack, did not name a foreign intelligence service, but Afghanistan regularly accuses circles in Pakistan of supporting the Taliban and other insurgents.

''The terrorists no doubt could not have succeeded in launching such an atrocity without full support of foreign intelligence,'' the summary of the cabinet meeting released on Tuesday said, citing the report.

The cabinet, chaired by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, met hours after a suicide attack on the embassy that killed 41 people and wounded nearly 150 others, including two Indian diplomats.

The attack was the deadliest in Kabul since the 2001 fall of the hardline Taliban regime in a US-led invasion. The Taliban have denied responsibility.

No progress in talks with Bush: Medvedev

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that his first meeting with US President George W Bush since taking office brought no progress toward bridging deep disagreements between the former Cold War foes.

Deeply wary of creeping Western clout in former Soviet republics and satellite states, Russia adamantly opposes the Bush administration's plans to deploy missile defense installations in Central Europe and its support for bids by Georgia and Ukraine to join NATO.

Medvedev said on Tuesday that some of the countries' interests coincide. On their differences, however, ''there is no particular progress,'' he said, following Monday's meeting on the sidelines of the G-8 summit. ''We continue to exchange opinions.''

The Russian leader added that he wants good relations with Bush's successor in the White House, and that he and Bush agreed the US election campaign should not bring a pause in contacts.

Medvedev has pledged continuity in Russia's foreign policy since taking over the presidency from Vladimir Putin but has tended to assert Moscow's position in less confrontational language than his predecessor.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was expected to sign an agreement today to build a radar installation for the missile shield in the Czech Republic. The United States is also in talks to build a missile installation in Poland.

Russia says it is not convinced by US insistence that the shield is meant to neutralize a potential Iranian threat and suspects the true aim is to weaken Russia.

Medvedev also met for the first time yesterday with British premier Gordon Brown, but their talks brought no visible progress on several bitter disputes that have badly hurt ties