President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out at the US during his first visit to Afghanistan since he and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai were re-elected last year in controversial polls.

"We do not see the presence of foreign military forces in Afghanistan as a solution for peace in Afghanistan," Ahmadinejad told a joint Press conference with Karzai.

The US has spearheaded a major troop surge in a last-ditch bid to end an eight-year Taliban insurgency against more than 120,000 Nato and US-led troops supporting Karzai's government.

"Our policy is full support for the Afghan people and Afghan government and reconstruction of Afghanistan and we will continue this support in the future," Ahmadinejad said.

His visit overlapped with one by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who was in Afghanistan to review the surge of US and Nato troops set to bring their numbers to 150,000 by August.

Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called on US-led troops to leave Afghanistan, which has close ethnic and religious ties to Iran, while US officials have long accused Iran of maintaining links to Islamist insurgents in Afghanistan.

Asked about accusations from Gates earlier in the week that Iran is playing a double game in the war-torn country, Ahmadinejad responded: "The question is what are you (Gates and troops) doing here in this region?

"You are 12,000km away on the other side of the world. What are you doing here? This is a serious question," he added.

"They are playing a double game. They themselves created terrorists and say they want to fight against terrorism," he said.

Asked about regional countries turning Afghanistan into a battleground for proxy wars, Ahmadinejad said Iran plays no role in destabilising Afghanistan.

"Iran has no role in Afghanistan's insecurity but stands beside Afghanistan's government and people for their security," he said.

On the third day of his latest visit to Afghanistan, Gates toured a training centre for Afghan soldiers on the outskirts of the capital.

"We think Afghanistan should have good relations with all its neighbours. But we also want all of Afghanistan's neighbours to play an up-front game when dealing with the government of Afghanistan," Gates said.

Karzai later arrived in Pakistan for two days of talks with Pakistani leaders to bolster ties between the two neighbours battling Taliban militants.

Tantawi, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar - Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning - had been in Riyadh to attend the King Faisal awards ceremony, Egypt's official MENA news agency said.

Tantawi, 81, was boarding an early morning flight when he fell on the stairs, Egyptian television said. He was rushed to the Amir Sultan hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.

An Egyptian official said that Tantawi had died of a heart attack.

The news of his death was "an indescribable shock," his son Amr Tantawi said.

"The family has decided that since God chose for him to die on Saudi land, he will be buried in Al Baqie cemetery in Islam's second holy city of Medina, he added.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is also 81 and recovering in Germany after a gall bladder operation, mourned the death of Tantawi.

The Grand Imam was "one of the most honourable scholars in Islam, and one of the defenders of its moderation, enlightenment and spirit of forgiveness," Mubarak, said in a statement.

Tantawi was appointed head of Al Azhar, the 10th century university that has trained the majority of Sunni Muslim clerics from Africa and Asia.

"The Islamic and Arabic world has lost a scholar and a jurisprudent who was dedicated to his work and to everything that served the good of Islam and Muslims," Al Azhar said.

The softly spoken cleric with a trim white beard, who was always seen wearing a traditional Azharite white turban, has long been a controversial figure in Egypt.

His rulings on a wide range of topics, such as the Islamic veil, abortion, suicide attacks, women prayer leaders and female circumcision, often caused a stir in the Islamic world and beyond.

Many however saw him as an employee of the state who moved Al Azhar, which is tasked with propagating Islamic culture around the world, in line with government policy.

"He was the weakest head of Al Azhar ever because he saw himself only as a government employee," Islamist and political analyst Kamal Habib said.

"His tenure saw a severe deterioration in Egypt's political life, and as a result a deterioration of the religious institution because of its links with politics," said Abdel Halim Qandil, a leading opposition figure.

"Many did not appreciate the fact that Tantawi was involved in the country's political affairs. But he was brave," said Mohammed Al Hizbi, 32, an Indonesian student at Al Azhar.

Last October, a national row broke out after Tantawi banned the niqab, or full face veil, in all residences and schools affiliated to Al Azhar, except in classrooms where the teacher is male.

Many of his other rulings have also been controversial.

In 2003, he said suicide bombers were "enemies of Islam," adding that "extremism is the enemy of Islam."

After the September 11 attacks on the US, Tantawi said: "It's not courage in any way to kill an innocent person, or to kill thousands of people, including women and children."

Already under fire over inflated food prices and a proposed hike in fuel prices, India's coalition government has been hit by turmoil, trying to push the legislation reserving a third of parliamentary seats for women.

The bill angered two of Congress' partners - the regional Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) - which withdrew their support.

Yesterday they began mobilising support for a possible parliamentary vote against the government.

While the Congress-led coalition still has a majority, the standoff may prove a distraction for a government trying to push through key economic legislation, including the 2010/11 budget.

"We are talking to everyone, everything is fine and we are not worried," senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily said.

The two parties which quit backed the government from outside but their support gave the Congress party the room to push through policy decisions in Parliament to maintain high growth.

Samajwadi said it might consider bringing a "no-trust" vote against the government.

Meanwhile, a handful of Samajwadi and RJD lawmakers forced the parliament's lower house to temporarily shut yesterday due to noisy protests against the bill.