Italian climber summits highest Afghan peak

KABUL, July 28 (AFP) - Famed Italian climber Fausto de Stefani Sunday conquered Afghanistan's highest peak, the 7,492-metre (24,580-foot) Noshaq in the Hindu Kush range on the remote northeast border with Pakistan.

De Stefani, part of a European seven-member team, was two days ahead of his companions and attained the summit at 10:00 am (0530 GMT) Sunday morning, a diplomatic source in Kabul told AFP after being in contact with the climber by satellite phone.

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The month-long "Oxus: mountains for peace" expedition, jointly organised by Mountain Wilderness International and the Italian embassy in Kabul, left on July 13 and established a base camp at around 4,000 metres (13,300 feet) and two other camps at 5,000 (16,600 feet) and 6,800 metres (22,600 feet).

De Stefani's companions, which include a young Afghan climber, were expected to attain the summit in the next two or three days, the diplomatic source said.

Afghan climber Sayd Akmal plans to reach the summit and become one of the first certified high-altitude guides in Afghanistan.

The team also includes French, Spanish, Slovenian and Swiss climbers following de Stefani's lead.

A famed mountaineer, de Stefani has conquered all of the world's 14 highest peaks over 8,000 metres.

Noshaq is situated in Badakhshan province 320 kilometres (200 miles) northeast of Kabul at the entrance to the Wakhan corridor, the thumb of mountainous Afghan territory which juts out between Tajikistan, Pakistan and China.

The Wakhan was the stamping ground for Russian and British secret agents during their 19th century "Great Game" (or "Tournament of Shadows" as the Russians call it) for control of Central Asia and was a buffer between the then Russian and British empires.

More recently Noshaq was the launching point for a number of expeditions in the 1960s and 70s.

Mountain Wilderness International, which bills itself as a group "in the mountains on the side of the mountains" aims to use the expedition as a peace message that will help Afghanistan reopen its mountains for adventure enthusiasts.

Relatively unscathed by the decade-long war against the Soviet occupation, Badakshan was also spared from the oppressive fundamentalist Taliban regime that was ousted in 2001 by a US-led military coalition.

It now stands as one of the most stable provinces in Afghanistan but is also a top region for the cultivation and production of opium.

hba-mtp/mmg/pch

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