Pakistan conveys anger, shock over Burhanuddin Rabbani assassination

Pakistan's top leadership "condemned in the strongest terms" the assassination of Afghan High Peace Council chief Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was playing a key role in negotiations with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani "condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack" that killed the former Afghan President in his home in Kabul, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

"On behalf of the people and government of Pakistan, the Pakistani leadership has conveyed to the brotherly people and government of Afghanistan extreme anger and shock on the terrorist attack," the statement said.

The Pakistani people "stand by their Afghan brothers and sisters in this moment of grief on losing a visionary leader who was actively pursuing peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan", it said.

The statement described Rabbani as a "friend of Pakistan" with whom Islamabad was "working closely within the Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Commission for Reconciliation and Peace on a vision for peace and prosperity in Afghanistan".

Rabbani was "martyred by the enemies of peace in Afghanistan," it said.

A suicide bomber with explosives hidden in his turban killed Rabbani in the latest in a string of high-profile assassinations in Afghanistan.

His death is being seen as a major blow to the effort to begin negotiations with the Afghan Taliban.