Afghan President Hamid Karzai meets with US Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton in Kabul, January 14. Clinton was in Afghanistan for talks including discussions on whether more US troops should be sent to fight the Taliban insurgency, officials said.

Clinton, a likely candidate for the 2008 presidential elections, was accompanied by Democratic Senator Evan Bayh and Republican Representative John McHugh, US embassy and Afghan government officials said.

Earlier, the Senator also visited Islamabad where she met Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf briefed the US Senators about the Indo-Pakistan dialogue process, saying that a peaceful solution to the Kashmir issue would ensure durable peace in South Asia.

Photograph : Massoud Hossaini/AFP/Getty Images