Iran Hosts Anti-Terror Summit

Agence France-Press reports:

The leaders of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan agreed on Saturday to join forces in combating militancy as they attended a counter-terrorism summit overshadowed by an Afghan hospital bombing that killed at least 20 people.

The joint statement by the three neighbouring presidents followed an announcement by US President Barack Obama that Washington will withdraw 33,000 of its 99,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of next summer.

"All sides stressed their commitment to efforts aimed at eliminating extremism, militancy, terrorism, as well as rejecting foreign interference, which is in blatant opposition to the spirit of Islam, the peaceful cultural traditions of the region and its peoples' interests," the statement said.

They agreed to continue meetings at ministerial level ahead of the next summit in Islamabad before the end of 2011, added the statement carried by Iran's official IRNA news agency.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Iranian and Pakistani counterparts Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Asif Ali Zardari held three-way talks on Friday ahead of Saturday's six-nation counter-terrorism gathering.

The three leaders discussed "ways of battling terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking," IRNA said.