A Russian envoy discussed the Afghan conflict with Pakistani officials on Tuesday amid renewed security worries voiced in neighbouring Central Asia.

Sergei Yastrzhembsky, a special aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, held what a Pakistani statement called useful meetings with Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar and Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider after arriving for a two-day visit. The visit follows a string of battle victories by Afghanistan's ruling Taleban movement over its opponents this month, causing concern in some of the formerly Soviet Central Asian republics fearing a possible spillover of the Taleban's radical Islamic fervour. The Taleban has dismissed such fears and says it has no intention to interfere in its neighbours' internal affairs. President Imomali Rakhmonov of Tajikistan told a government meeting in Dushanbe on Tuesday that fighting raging in Afghanistan near the border was a threat to the whole region. The spokesman said the Russian ambassador and Russian military officials had attended, along with members of the Tajik government. Pakistani officials said Yastrzhembsky, Putin's aide who normally deals with Moscow's campaign against Chechen separatists, had brought a message from the Kremlin leader for Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf. The Taleban movement, which controls some 90 percent of Afghan territory, has clashed near the Tajik border with troops loyal to ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani, whose legitimacy is still recognised by the United Nations four years after being driven out of Kabul. Fighting has moved to within two miles of the border in places and Russian troops have increased security on the Tajik side. Moscow has repeatedly pledged to take measures to ensure that the influence of the hardline Taleban movement be kept out of former Soviet Central Asian republics.