Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, meeting at the presidential palace in Kabul, reiterated support for the ongoing fight against terrorism and extremism until the restoration of regional peace.

Farhatullah Babar, Zardari’s spokesman, said Zardari told Karzai that Pakistan is a strong supporter of Afghanistan’s peace and stability. He said Pakistan believed that the Afghan people must be given the opportunity to decide their future.

Zardari said Pakistan would act as a supportive neighbour to Afghanistan in its efforts to attain development, peace and prosperity, the spokesman said. Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik also met with his Afghan counterpart Gen. Bismillah Mohammadi and discussed security issues and the installation of a biometric security system along Pak-Afghan border.

The interior ministers will meet again in Islamabad soon to review implementation and further discuss such things as cross-border incursions.