'Killings of Indians orchestrated from beyond'

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday said the recent killing by extremists of an Indian engineer K Suryanaryana and Border Roads Organisation driver Maniappan Kutty working in his country was orchestrated from "beyond" Afghanistan.

These extremists see a democratic Afghanistan as inhibiting their interests in the region, he said while addressing the HT Leadership Summit in New Delhi.

Suryanarayana, an engineer with a telecom company, was kidnapped on April 28 and killed two days later suspectedly by Taliban. Earlier in January, Kutty was also abducted and murdered four days later with the finger of suspicion pointing to Taliban.

Asked whether he was willing to talk to Taliban leader Mullah Omar as part of efforts to bring back peace in Afghanistan, he said, "For the sake of peace, we are willing to do anything.

"We are willing to talk to all those who endanger peace to stop them from continuing to do so," he said but went on to make it clear that those who committed crimes against the Afghan people in the past and were continuing to do so would have to face the courts.

Warning that an unstable Afghanistan would put the vision of a prosperous and peaceful region in jeopardy, he sought "enduring" partnership of allies in the fight against terrorism and extremism.

On his reluctance to seek re-election at the end of his tenure in three years, Karzai, who had his school education in India, spoke of the legacy left behind by great leaders in this country.