Iranian president in Afghanistan for talks

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KABUL, Aug 14 (AFP): Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Kabul Tuesday for talks with Afghan leaders amid allegations that his government was supplying weapons to the Taliban insurgency.
Ahmadinejad's first visit to Afghanistan since he assumed office comes after both British and US officials said Tehran was aiding the Taliban, the extremist militia which is waging a guerrilla war against the Kabul government.
The one-day trip comes a week after US President George W. Bush, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's most important ally, challenged the Afghan leader's contention that Iran played a positive role in his developing country.
Ahmadinejad was quoted by the state-run IRNA agency as saying before he left that Iran and Afghanistan had always "stood next to each other as brothers and friends."
Conditions in the region "compel us to have dialogue and cooperation between the two countries regarding the economy, investment, construction projects and security issues," he said.
The president was scheduled to meet Karzai, key opposition figure Younus Qanooni, speaker of the lower house of parliament, as well as some Iranian nationals before heading to Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan.