KABUL - Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence ('ISI) agency was directly involved in the assassination of ex-president Burhanuddin Rabbani, Afghan Interior Minister claimed on Saturday.
The High Peace Council chief was assassinated on September 20 as a result of a suicide attack on his house in the high-security Wazir Akbar Khan diplomatic district of Kabul.
Wolesi Jirga summoned Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak, Interior Minister Bismillah Mohammadi and National Directorate of Security (NDS) chief Rahmatullah Nabil on Saturday.
Addressing the lower house, Mohammadi said investigations show the attack on Rabbani had been plotted in the Satellite Town neighborhood of Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, by the ISI four to five months ago.
An Afghan envoy would visit Islamabad today to discuss the issue with Pakistani officials, Mohammadi said, concluding: "Our investigations into Rabbani's death are completed and now is the time for a probe in Pakistan."
Echoing Mohammadi's views, Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said foreign intelligence circles were directly involved in the killing of Rabbani, explaining the suicide attacker was an outsider.
All supporters of the plot in the country had been detained, Wardak said, adding they had also asked the Interpol for assistance on the issue.
Meanwhile, the NDS head said the root cause of Rabbani's killing was non-availability of a specific mechanism for peace efforts, lack of High Peace Council's confidence in government institutions and trust in every "terrorist'.
Rahmatullah Nabil said they had arrested Taliban commanders who intended to perform disruptive activities in the name of peace, but the peace body released them. "When we arrest rebels, the council tells us we are derailing the process..."
Nabil wanted to further elaborate on the issue, but parliamentarians asked journalists to leave the session.
Addressing a press conference, National Directorate of Security (NDS) spokesman Lotfullah Mashal told a press conference that the man had been detained with important documents by a joint commission.
The NDS had handed the documents to the Pakistan embassy, Mashal said, asking the neighboring country to take steps against Rabbani's assassins on the basis of the evidence.