Pakistani may be scouting a place for Afghan talks

June 9, 1980

Pakistani Foreign Minister Agha Shahi left Islamabad Sunday for Europe for talks on Afghanistan with the Romanian and West German governments. The four-day visit to West Germany and Romania is in response to longstanding invitations, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. Romania is, however, considered a possible neutral site for talks between the Soviet-backed Kabul government of President Babrak Karmal and the three-man Islamic foreign ministers' committee, of which Agha Shahi is a member. The committee, set up by the Islamic foreign ministers to seek talks with all interested parties in an attempt to find a political solution to the crisis, held its first meeting in Tehran last week.