Al-Ibrahimi in Riyadh: detente between Taleban and Iran

Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz on Wednesday in Riyadh received the UN secretary general's special envoy for Afghanistan, al-Akhar al-Ibrahimi.

In a statement to the London-based al-Hayat daily, al-Ibrahimi said his visit aims at exchanging views with the Saudi officials concerning the situation in Afghanistan, on the grounds of Saudi Arabia's interest in the cause of Afghanistan.

Al-Ibrahimi described his talks with Crown Prince Abdullah as "excellent, as usual."

Replying to a question on his efforts in Afghanistan, al- Ibraheimi said: "Efforts are still continuous in search for finding out the means to enable the Afghan people to end their long-term crisis."

Al-Ibrahimi indicated a detente in the relations between Afghanistan's Taleban movement and Iran. Replying to a question on his mediation to settle the disputes between the Taleban and Iran, he said: "Thank God, the crisis has been eliminated and a meeting was held earlier between the two sides in Dubai. This is my first meeting with them following Dubai's meeting and we will find where things have arrived."

On Saturday, al-Ibrahimi will arrive in Islamabad and then he will move to complete his efforts in settling the disputes between the Taleban and Tehran, which erupted following the killing by members in Taleban movement of eight Iranian diplomats in Mazar al-Sharif in August, 1998.