Pakistan has no favorite in Afghan vote: minister

Source: Reuters

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan has no favorite among the candidates in Afghanistan's presidential election this week, but wants a credible result in the interests of its neighbor's stability, a Pakistani minister said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is seeking re-election in Thursday's polls and is facing a stiff challenge from former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.

"Pakistan has been pursuing a hands-off policy," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters on Tuesday, adding he had conveyed that in talks with visiting U.S. envoy to the region Richard Holbrooke.

"We have no favorites ... and we will accept the democratic decision of the people of Afghanistan," he said.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have been uneasy neighbors since shortly after Pakistan's creation in 1947, but greater cooperation between them in seen as a vital part of U.S. President Barack Obama's strategy against Islamist militancy.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Afghanistan-Pakistan/idUSTRE57H1E220090818