By empty (7/8/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has apologised to Islamabad after protesters attacked Pakistan\'s embassy in Kabul. He told Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf that those responsible were enemies of peace and stability in the country and promised to compensate them for the damage. The ransackers broke away from a 1,000-strong rally in protest against alleged Pakistani incursions into Afghanistan.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has apologised to Islamabad after protesters attacked Pakistan\'s embassy in Kabul. He told Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf that those responsible were enemies of peace and stability in the country and promised to compensate them for the damage. The ransackers broke away from a 1,000-strong rally in protest against alleged Pakistani incursions into Afghanistan. After Tuesday\'s attack, Pakistan lodged a formal protest with the Afghan Government and accused its security forces of failing to prevent the \'mob\' from entering the building. At a news conference President Karzai said: \"I strongly, strongly, strongly condemn this action. \"Those who committed this act are not the enemies of Pakistan. They are the enemies of Afghanistan, peace in Afghanistan. They are the enemies of friendship between Afghanistan and Pakistan\". The Afghan Foreign Ministry said it would pay compensation for the damage and guarantee the mission\'s security. Afghan hostility towards Pakistan mounted at the weekend after it criticised President Musharraf for allegedly speaking of a power vacuum in Afghanistan and apparently claiming the government did not represent all ethnic groups. Officials also accused Pakistan of sending troops into Afghan territory during operations on the border - a charge rejected by Pakistan. Government officials were among those who took to the streets of Kabul for a second day of protests. \"We want good relations with Pakistan but we will not tolerate anybody\'s interference,\" said the governor of the central bank, Anwar Ul-haq Ahady. (BBC)