rabbani

But only a few weeks ago, Rabbani voiced his frustration to the Afghan media that the Taliban would never soften their position.

Burhanuddin Rabbani had been heading a government peace council set up to build contacts with the Taliban.

The force of the explosion inside Mr Rabbani's plush house triggered the "duck and cover" alarms at the American embassy down the street.

Rabbani was killed when he greeted a suicide bomber posing as a Taliban emissary bearing a reconciliation message.

Pakistani officials reacted angrily, the Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar warning that America risked losing an ally.

Mr. Rabbani was a militant leader in the armed struggle against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan from 1979-1989.

HINA RABBANI KHAR: "You will lose an ally, you cannot afford to alienate Pakistan, you cannot afford to alienate the Pakistani people. "

China expresses condolences over Mr. Rabbani's death and solicitude to the bereaved.

'He has lost the moral authority to rule, ' Sen. Rabbani told reporters at a news conference. 'He should tender his resignation and go.

Mr. Rabbani's government was ultimately forced from power when the Taliban took control of the capital, Kabul, in 1996.

TOLO TV station reported that local Rabbani has died, but the news has not yet been officially confirmed.

A: Shocked at the death of Mr. Rabbani, China condemns the attack.

The Taliban 'consider themselves the people of madrassas [Islamic schools] and they kill people in this name, ' Mr. Rabbani said.