Karzai leaves for Russia to attend Sochi Olympics opening ceremony

KABUL: (MEP) – Afghan president Hamid Karzai on Friday left for Russia to attend the opening ceremony of winter Olympics which is due to be organized in the city of Sochi.

The presidential palace media office following a statement, said President Hamid Karzai was invited by the Russian president Vladimir putin to attend the opening ceremony of Sochi Olympics.

The statement further added that president Karzai is accompanied by a delegation of high level government officials, including foreign minister Zerar Ahmad Osmani and Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta, national security advisor to president Karzai.

President Karzai is expected to hold talks with the Russian president Vladimir Putin, Chinese president Xi Jinping and the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.

The opening ceremony for the XXII Winter Olympics starts in the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi at 4.14pm GMT (8.14pm local time), and the games will continue for another two weeks.

According to reports, Russia has deployed around 100,000 police officers, soldiers and secret agents to the Sochi region for the duration of the Games.

The security measures were taken as the games were overshadowed with concerns of possible attacks.

At least 34 people were killed following terror attacks on Volgograd in December last year. an extremist group from Dagestan region claimed responsibility behind the attacks and vowed to carry out more attacks.