AFX | October 23, 2001
TEHRAN - Qatar's foreign minister has condemned the US-led military strikes on Afghanistan as "unacceptable", following talks in Tehran.
"The attacks against Afghanistan are unacceptable and we have condemned them. It is our clear position," Sheikh Hamad bin-Jassem bin-Jabr al-Thani said.
He was speaking to reporters after a meeting between Qatar's emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and president Mohammed Khatami said.
"What is happening in Afghanistan concerns the Islamic world, and we think that the culprits of the Sept 11 attacks, no matter who they are, should be tried justly.
"We think that the Afghan people should not be the victims of these attacks," the foreign minister added.
Speaking just ahead of the Qatari delegation's departure, the minister said the two sides had talked over the Afghan "without discussing the future of that country, because it is up to the Afghan people to decide" their fate.
"For Afghanistan, we do not have precise plans and we think that it is unnecessary to call for a summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference," he said.
Officials said the emir will visit Riyadh on Sunday for talks on the Afghan and Palestinian crises.
The London-based Al-Hayat daily said the visit was scheduled after a telephone conversation between Sheikh Hamad and Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah bin Abdel Aziz, following a deterioration of the situation in the Palestinian territories.AFX:
