Geo World

Rabbani's killing plotted abroad: Afghan intel

KABUL: Afghanistan's intelligence agency said on Monday it had arrested a key figure in last week's assassination of former President Burhanuddin Rabbani and suggested the Taliban's senior leadership may have been involved. The National Directorate of Security (NDS) said an Afghan suspect had revealed that last Tuesday's suicide bombing that killed Rabbani, the government's top peace negotiator, was plotted outside the country. He told a hastily arranged news conference late on Monday that he would not identify the arrested man to avoid jeopardising the investigation. Deputy head of the NDS Zeya suggested the Quetta Shura, the Taliban's leadership council, may have played a role in Rabbani's killing and said the NDS would recommend to President Hamid Karzai that he push for the investigation to be taken beyond Afghanistan's borders. (Reuters)