Sharif In Kabul Pledges Support For Peace Talks

Radio Free Europe, November 30, 2013

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is

 on his first visit to Kabul since taking office

this year.

Pakistan's prime minister says the recent release of a senior Taliban leader shows he is committed to helping bring peace to Afghanistan.

Nawaz Sharif said after meeting in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzai that an agreement had been reached on a mechanism to allow members of an Afghan peace council to continue talks with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was released from Pakistan detention last September. He did not provide details.

Sharif is on a one-day visit to Afghanistan, his first since he became prime minister.

Many Taliban leaders are based in Pakistan, and Kabul has sought Islamabad's help to get them to talk.

Relations between the two countries have been marked by tensions, with Afghanistan often accusing Pakistan of aiding Taliban leaders sheltering across the border.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters