AFGHANISTAN:The two senior western diplomats expelled from Afghanistan after being accused of talking directly to the Taliban left Kabul early yesterday amid hopes that they could soon be readmitted.
Michael Semple, the Irish acting head of the EU's mission, and Mervyn Patterson, a Briton working for the UN, flew to neighbouring Pakistan hours before the politics of the region were thrown into turmoil by the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
The pair had been ejected on the orders of President Hamid Karzai after he accused them of holding what Kabul regards as illegal talks with unidentified Taliban last week. They are alleged to have done so after Nato's recapture of Musa Qala, the most important rebel stronghold in Helmand province, where British troops have engaged in heavy fighting.
Western sources said the two officials - both experienced in the region - had informed the minister for security in Kabul of what they were up to, but were victims of internal struggles within the embattled Kabul administration.
"Karzai has been showing weakness here and acted out of feelings of pique, as he sometimes does," said one western source. "This is a struggle with the governor of Helmand [ Asadullah Wafa], who had demanded the two men's removal."