'Security Threat' Prompts Afghans to Turn Back Plane Carrying Pakistan Lawmakers

ISTANBUL - Officials in Afghanistan said a plane carrying a high-profile Pakistan parliamentary delegation was turned back Thursday as it was about to land in Kabul after explosives were found at the airport.

The large Pakistani delegation was to stay in the Afghan capital for three days under the leadership of Asad Qaiser, speaker of the lower house of Parliament, or the National Assembly. Qaisar and his delegation were invited by his Afghan counterpart, Mir Rahman Rahmani. Abdul Qadir Zazai, a spokesperson for the Afghan Parliament, said that during construction work, a digging team found old "unexploded ordnance" in part of the airport. The discovery prompted the control tower to refuse landing permission to several planes, including the one carrying the Pakistani guests, he explained.