Italy's junior Foreign Minister was set to make an official visit to Pakistan on Monday, bearing $7 million (7.68 million euros) of aid to help refugees from neighboring Afghanistan, the foreign ministry said.
The schedule of the visit by Margherita Boniver includes a number of high-level meetings in Pakistan, the ministry said.
Before she left Rome, Boniver met a delegation from the Afghan opposition and said afterwards there was "total harmony" between the views of the Northern Alliance, the United States and Europe concerning the fight against terrorism in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
The visit comes amid intense interest in the possibility of the deposed King of Afghanistan, Mohammed Zaher Shah, who lives in exile in Rome, playing a key role in the formation of a new Afghan government if the Taliban regime falls -- ROME (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)