Karzai pledges peace at Rabbani funeral

• Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed to continue efforts to broker a peace deal with the Taliban as he led thousands of mourners at the funeral of his assassinated peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani. 
  Rabbani was president of Afghanistan during the 1992-1996 civil war

Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed to continue efforts to broker a peace deal with the Taliban as he led thousands of mourners at the funeral of his assassinated peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Mr Rabbani, president of Afghanistan during the 1992-1996 civil war and chairman of Mr Karzai's hand-picked High Peace Council, was killed by a turban bomber purporting to be a peace emissary from the Taliban leadership.

He was the most senior national leader assassinated in Afghanistan since the 2001 American invasion.

Following the killing of Mr Karzai's brother Ahmed Wali Karzai, his kingpin in the south, and last week's 19-hour siege of the US embassy, the government has never seemed weaker in the face of the ten-year Taliban insurgency.

But the president insisted that the murder would not derail efforts to make contacts with insurgents, despite keeping up the fight.

"The blood of the martyred and other martyrs of freedom requires us to continue our efforts until we reach peace and stability," Mr Karzai said.

"We will continue our efforts to reach peace which was the wish of martyred ustad (professor) but at the same time, we consider it as our responsibility to fight the enemies of peace with determination."

Meanwhile, police fired into the air to disperse a large crowd gathered near where Mr Rabbani was due to be buried later.

"There is no security threat, the situation is under control," Mohammad Zahir, head of the Kabul police Crime Investigation Unit said.

"Many people gathered near the hilltop to attend the burial but they had not been searched or checked. Police fired into the air to disperse the crowd."

source

rte