Afghanistan's Karzai: Rabbani assassin was Pakistani national

Oct 2, 2011, 12:40 GMT

Kabul - The assassin of the former Afghan president and top peace negotiator with the Taliban militants was a Pakistani national, a statement from President Hamid Karzai's office said Sunday.

'The individual who carried out the suicide attack against (Burhanuddin) Rabbani was a Pakistani national,' it said.

The confession of a person detained in connection with the case, as well as other evidence, proved that Rabbani's murder had been planned in the Pakistani city of Quetta, it added.

Rabbani was the chairman of the Afghan High Peace Council, which leads Afghan efforts to negotiate with the Taliban. His killing almost two weeks ago marked a blow to reconciliation efforts with the insurgents.

He was killed on September 20 at his home in Kabul by a suicide bomber purporting to be a Taliban peace messenger, who had hidden explosives in his turban.

Afghanistan's intelligence agency on Saturday said that evidence linking the assassination to the Taliban's leadership council, the Quetta Shura - named after the Pakistani city where it is believed to be based - had been handed over to the Pakistani embassy in Kabul.

Separately, hundreds of Kabul residents took to the streets on Sunday to protest against Pakistan.

The protestors shouted anti-Pakistan slogans and blamed the country for the security situation in Afghanistan.

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