Zardari to attend Afghan summit next week

Zardari to talks with Afghan and Turkish leaders at conference on Afghanistan in Istanbul.

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari will hold talks with Afghan and Turkish leaders on the eve of a long-awaited conference on Afghanistan in Istanbul, the foreign office said Thursday.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Turkish President Abullah Gul will also attend the meeting on Saturday, spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua told reporters.

The agenda will include peace, stability and reconciliation in Afghanistan and economic cooperation for Afghanistan, she said.

"Pakistan strongly supports these areas" and will continue to "contribute constructively to all endeavours and initiatives in this regard," she said.

Turkey hosts a regional conference on Afghanistan on November 2 in Istanbul, which Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar will attend.

The Istanbul conference is intended to chart Afghanistan's future with the US-led Nato mission already locked into troop drawdowns that are scheduled to bring all foreign combat troops home by 2014.

"Pakistan supports efforts for a secure, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan contributing to stability, security and prosperity in the region," Janjua told a weekly press briefing.

"It is important that unity of purpose and the region?s support for Afghanistan must be ensured through consensus decision making."

Visiting Islamabad last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Pakistan to take action within "days and weeks" on dismantling Afghan militant havens and encouraging the Taliban into peace talks.

Pakistan has called for comprehensive reconciliation in Afghanistan and security officials say that contacts with Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani faction could help facilitate future peace talks with Kabul and Washington.