TEHRAN - According to Germany’s Die Welt newspaper, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has told his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in Beijing that Afghanistan can play the role of a linking bridge between China and Iran.

“Afghanistan can play the role of an influential linking bridge between China, Iran and Turkmenistan,” the paper said on Tuesday, quoting Karzai.

He added that so far China has provided Afghanistan with great assistance, calling for further international cooperation to reconstruct his war-torn country.