16:10/11:03:2010

In an expected move, the visiting Afghan president Thursday sought the extradition of Taliban leaders including a senior commander arrested recently by Pakistani security personnel.

Hamid Karzai, who arrived at the head of a high-powered delegation in Islamabad on Wednesday, said he had asked the Pakistani authorities to hand Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and other Taliban figures to Afghanistan .

Speaking to journalists after a breakfast meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari at the Aiwan-i-Sadar here, he said: "The arrested Taliban are Afghan citizens, who will be dealt with according to Afghanistan 's Constitution."

He observed: "Regardless of these arrests, my government is pursuing a fundamentally changed approach together with Pakistan toward stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan ."

Commenting on his plan for the reintegration of Taliban militants into mainstream society, Karzai hoped the US would not sabotage the process of reconciliation. He renewed his commitment to pursuing the peace effort, saying the project was still at an early stage.

He acknowledged Pakistan , just like Afghanistan , had suffered huge losses in the war against terrorism. He stressed the neighbours should put up a joint front against the scourge -- their common enemy.

In a bid to allay Islamabad 's concern with regard the growing involvement of New Delhi in the conflict-torn country, the president denied the presence of Indian troops in Afghanistan .

For his part, Zardari said the two South Asian nations -- mired in similar problems would strive together to find their solution. Bilateral cooperation between the brotherly countries in diverse fields would be further expanded, he promised.

At meetings last night, the two sides agreed to revive the joint grand jirga process to evolve a common strategy for promoting Karzai's reintegration and reconciliation plan. A jirgagai (mini-jirga) will be held in Kabul shortly after Afghanistan 's internal peace jirga on April 29. The jirgagai will be followed by a grand jirga in Islamabad .

They also vowed to enhance cooperation in areas like trade, investment, education, technology transfer, communications and people-to-people contact. The two countries will seek economic help from the international community and inform it of the losses they have suffered in the war on terror.

The meeting hoped over three million Afghan refugees in Pakistan would be able to return to their homeland once peace and normality were restored in Afghanistan .

During delegation-level talks, Karzai was aided by his Foreign Minister Dr . Zalmay Rasul, National Security Advisor Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Education Minister Dr. Farooq Wardak and Afghan Charge d'Affaires Majnoon Gulab.

Zardari was assisted by Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and his spokesman Farhatullah Babar. (PAN